Fixing Hawkeye
by StumpyTPDimples
Summary: The effects of the Ultron attack ruined his life more than ever before. Starting over is the only way to go, and it's up to the women in his life to help fix Hawkeye! (HAWK-GUY SERIES PART 3)
1. Chapter 1

So, got a little bit of hate for my last chapter of Scars!

I thought it was an alright chapter, really liked it, was the first one written for the story, but sure you guys are the judges and that's all that matters!

So, sorry!

To make it up to you, new story early!

Method in my madness, lads! Method in my madness!

Think I said this, but while this is still in movies section, it'll be less following the movies for the simple fact that, well, there's not gonna be another with Hawkeye for a while it seems! But yeah, still have moments!

Drop me a review!

DISCLAIMER; I OWN NOTHING TO DO WITH MARVEL! NEVER HAVE, UNFORTUNATELY NEVER WILL!

* * *

"Hawkeye! Ass up now!"

He growled a little and glanced at the clock on his night stand, taking his hearing aids out then because he really didn't want to listen to things this early!

He rolled over so he was face down in the pillow. He gave a little content sigh and nuzzled the pillow to find sleep once more.

No luck though..

He barely had a moments peace before a pillow was being bashed off his head.

He was used to this, she was such a child sometimes.

Though. probably because she pretty much was still a kid..

She soon gave up, he must have successfully ignored her enough.

Or not, because the morning ritual then began..

He bucked a bit with a growl to try get her off his back, her too busy trying to shove the hearing aids back in his ears to give up!

She cheats, that's his excuse.

Because every morning this happened.

Every morning she won.

Because she cheats and pins his arms by his side!

"Get your lazy ass up! Now! Natasha's at the door!"

"She's used to me being lazy!" He growled back, rolling over to his back when she finally got off of him and resting up on his elbows to look at her.

He gulped.

Those eyes were never good..

Those were the 'I'm going to throw you out the window again if you don't listen to me.' eyes..

"Just.. Two seconds, Kate.." He said quietly, and she smiled sweetly before turning with a flick of her long black hair and leaving his room once more.

Kate Bishop was going to be the death of him..

He gave a little sigh and swung his legs over the side of the bed, rubbing the tense muscles in the back of his neck a moment before getting up and going to find some clothes.

"Clint Barton hurry up!"

He heard being yelled, two voices, and he hung his head in annoyance.

Ok, Kate Bishop AND Natasha Romanoff were going to be the death of him..

He pulled on his t-shirt and jeans and left his room, rubbing some sleep from his eyes as he made his way to the kitchen of the little apartment he owned.

He hadn't been here long, about 9 months, after things went a little south (once again) in his life.

No boring you with details just yet! He was to be happy and joking and be Hawkeye!

Though, there were two Hawkeye's now.

When things went a little haywire during a mission some two years ago, he took a bad hit and was out of action for some time.

The Avengers and SHIELD needed a Hawkeye, a sharpshooter, otherwise their set of missions would just fall apart.

And that's where the kid came in.

Kate Bishop was a good shooter. Not as good as him, mind you. There were often times when he'd kick her ass at targets, but that's just life experience, because she's a good 10 years younger than he is.

Natasha always called her his little apprentice. Pissed Kate off, made Clint grin.

The two of them got on well together, as evident from the easy atmosphere in the kitchen when he entered, the two girls just talking over a cup of coffee.

While Clint was on leave, trying to shake half his side being blown off, the two girls continued on with missions. And, as Clint knew all too well, when you go on missions with someone for a while, you form a bond that no one else would ever understand.

"If it's just a mission, Romanoff, you could've just called." He said with a slight pout as he poured himself a cup of coffee, noticing the folder on the table infront of the Widow.

"Well, maybe I wanted to come check on your sorry ass." She replied with a slight smirk, and he couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped him.

That was as close to 'I'm kinda worried about you.' as the two of them ever got.

"Flattered, as always." He said with a little grin, taking the file from Kate's hands as he passed by her before going to sit next to Natasha.

"I was about to read that!" Kate whined, and Barton just held the file up to show her the big CONFIDENTIAL written across the front in red.

"Hawkeye only. You ain't Hawkeye anymore." He smirked, and she just huffed and walked off.

"She was a better Hawkeye than you are, bird brain." Romanoff teased, leaning back in her chair as Clint read the mission file.

He just hummed in agreement and sipped from his coffee, not really listening to her now as he read the file on the next mission.

"Seems simple enough.." He said softly once through the main mission report, absent-mindedly rubbing at the back of his neck.

"I think we'll find him this time." She said with a nod, taking his empty mug and hers to the sink to wash them up. "Not many places left for him to hide."

"He'd always find ways.." He said slowly, staring at the picture of the man infront of him.

Most of their missions had revolved around finding this guy the past while. And Clint wouldn't be happy until an arrow was sent through his skull.

Tyler Anderson. The guy haunts an awful lot of Clint's nightmares most nights.

HYDRA main thug, though that doesn't say much since there's barely any left for there to be main thugs. Wanted for illegal human experimentation, kidnapping, murder, assault, death ring matches..

"Still no kill order?" He asked in complete shock when he got to the last page, noting the words 'Capture' across the mission brief. That meant he wasn't allowed kill the guy and get away with it.

"He'll have way too much information to pass up." Natasha said softly, by Clint's side now and running a hand through his hair. "We get to interrogate him then and there though, so don't worry."

He nodded slightly and closed the file, pushing it across the table a bit before rubbing at his temples. It was too early for this kind of stuff.

"You need a shower man." Natasha chuckled after a while, and he just smiled to himself.

"Got in a little too late to last night." He shrugged, standing when he saw her grab her coat before walking her to the door.

"You're not still at that, are you?" She whispered with a little frown once at the door, he knew she'd be worried, she always was. "It's not good, Clint."

"It helps." He shrugged, opening the door for her before leaning against it. "Helps me forget things for a while."

He hated that smile she gave him when he said stuff like that. Well, it was nice, he guessed, but it was that mixture of pity and sadness that he never liked seeing.

She patted his cheek gently. "We leave in three days. I'm in town till then, so I'll try pop around."

"Just not this early next time." He replied with a small smirk, and she just rolled her eyes before walking off.

"1pm is not early, Francis." She called when she was down the hall.

He smiled a little to himself and shut the door, standing there a moment to gather his thoughts before heading back into the kitchen for another coffee.

He froze at the entrance way before sighing to himself. Of course she'd be reading the mission file..

"Hey!" Kate protested when the file was ripped from her hands, Clint sitting down opposite his little apprentice with the folder under his arms.

"Just listen once in a while, would ya kid?" He sighed, knowing what kind of information about him was in that file.

"Clint, just let me read! Your name is in there!" She pouted, reaching over to try grab it off of him. But he just yanked it out of reach and shook his head.

"Confidential."

"When has that ever stopped you showing me?"

"Now."

"Why?"

He lost. He couldn't think of a why. He didn't want her knowing his past? Didn't want her knowing what this monster was capable of? Didn't want her view on the word changing just because of this?

He didn't know. She wasn't some innocent kid who needed protecting. She was just like he was, kind of.

He sighed in defeat and slid the file over to her, ignoring the smug satisfaction on her face from winning.

He just watched the table as she read the file, feeling her look at him every now and again. He just couldn't watch as she read some of the worst things that happened to him.

"So you were.."

"Yep." He answered before she could finish.

"And they put that.."

"Right in my neck." Again.

"And threw you.."

"Into fights."

"And Nat.."

"Saved my ass." He smiled a little at that one, leaning back in his chair again to watch her as she tried get everything right in her mind.

"Hearing.."

"Sonic arrow goes boom, ear drums go boom."

"Damn Clint.." She sighed, looking to him with that look that he's seen too many times before. "It have any effects?"

"For a while, yeah.. Gone from my system now though.." He said quietly, looking to the table again to escape her gaze.

"What'd it do..?"

"It was a rough super soldier serum.. It was supposed to turn us into Captain America, basically."

"Well that failed." She laughed, and he just growled at her joke.

"It seriously did.. It tried help pain by thinning blood, meaning I'd bleed out in no time.. It broke apart muscles but forgot to rebuild them, so they didn't grow.. It gave way too high levels of adrenaline so I'd keep going and make injuries worse.." He said way too quietly, just watching the table for something to watch. "It made me so damn aggressive that I was even scared of me.."

"How'd they get it out..?" She asked just as quietly, and he just shrugged.

"It just eventually ran out of my system.. It wasn't like Cap's serum, it didn't stay, it just ran out.. During a mission of all times.."

"Now that's a story I gotta hear!" She said happily, and he had to smile at the excitement in her voice. She always asked him about missions, about all the old times during SHIELD and with the Avengers. He always obliged.

"I'm sure you have. Nat loves telling the story of how I fell down some stairs and was unconscious for two weeks." He laughed, standing up to go pour the two of them some more coffee.

"That was THAT mission?" She asked in surprise, and he just nodded.

"Thing ran out of my system while we were running down the stairs and I just collapsed. Was probably only five months after the whole capture happened. Y'see, when they tested the serum, they saw that it didn't cling to the cells like Cap's does. It just circulates around the blood stream."

"So they'd have to keep injecting to keep a perfect soldier." She finished, and he nodded as he set a fresh mug of coffee down infront of her.

"Exactly. But I was taken off of it, so I was just a ticking time bomb. It was a good thing Nat was there. Otherwise, I probably would've died from the withdrawal that followed."

Things fell into a silence, and he was fine with that, though he wished she had of waited until his coffee was swallowed before speaking next..

"You and Nat look good together.."

His coffee was spit all over the table, and he could just hear her laughing over his choking.

"Too soon?" She asked through her laughs, though she had enough control to get him some kitchen paper to wipe himself off.

"Just a bit." He growled, red faced now. Though he couldn't tell if that was from embarrassment or from choking.

"Gotta get out there again, Hawkdude!" She grinned, wiping down the table for him now. "There's something there, just trust me!"

"I know there is.." He replied quietly, rubbing the back of his neck once more. She paused and looked at him for an explanation, though the look she had on told him she really didn't need one.

"No. Way." She said with slightly side eyes, grinning a little then. "You two were so a thing! I knew it! I should've put money on it!"

"Wasn't exactly a secret.." He said quietly, standing to take off his now coffee soaked shirt and throwing it in the corner for washing before walking off to his room for another.

"What happened? What did you do? Cause there's no way you're THAT stupid to break up with her, so she so broke up with you! Clint!" She spoke so quickly but he caught it all.

And they were the questions he asked himself many times before.

He couldn't talk about it though, so he just closed the door in his friends face, locked it, and went to climb in the bed.

He took his aids out once again to ignore the girl banging on the door outside before burying his face in the pillow.

Too much mental shit for this early in the day..

* * *

"About that proposal.."

He looked up from his pancakes with a confused face, not expecting those words from her mouth really!

"Yeah..?" He asked cautiously, wiping some of the last bit of syrup from his face as he tried get his pulse under control.

"I can't lose you, y'know.." She said quietly, not looking at him though. And that sank his heart, because it wasn't good news if she didn't look at him. "I gotta hold onto you, but marriage isn't the way to do that.."

"What do you mean..?"

No answer. She was just completely silent. He watched on as he waited, waited for her to finish whatever thoughts or battles she was currently having in her mind.

"People in our line of work.. We just don't marry." She finally said, and he both physically and mentally deflated.

"So.. That's a no then..?"

"That's a no.." She confirmed, finally looking at him with that blank Black Widow face he had come to know.

He wasn't so good at putting on a mask though, he was already tearing up, because the dreams he had for the two of them were just shattering right infront of him.

He rubbed the back of his head as he tried get things in check. "Ah man.."

"It doesn't change things, Clint. I still love you." She said softly, reaching a hand across to offer it to him.

He didn't take it.

"Just not enough to marry me.."

"Too risky, Clint." She sighed, standing to go wash up the breakfast stuff.

"You're not afraid of getting hurt, are you?" He asked quickly, standing so he could be level with her. "Because I'd never do that Tash. Never, really."

She just shook her head, not facing him though so he couldn't gauge her emotions at all.

"You'll understand one day. For now, just trust me.."

He couldn't take that for an answer. He just couldn't. He went up behind her and spun her by the shoulders so she was looking at him. She was shocked, he knew that, but he was just annoyed now.

"Tell me. Now." He growled, and he knew it was a mistake the second the words left his mouth.

"Don't you speak to me like that you asshole. It's a no. Accept that." She said with an annoyed face, swatting his arms away before walking away from him.

He just let her.

He should have stopped her, but he just let her go to the room, get dressed, grab her stuff, and walk out the door.

He didn't protest, didn't go after her. He didn't say a single word about it. He just let Natasha Romanoff, the best thing that ever happened to him, walk right out of his life.

But she didn't give him a reason! Not a single one!

If there was a reason, then he'd accept it no problem!

But there was nothing.

He growled to himself at what had just happened, what was he to do now?

He did what was natural to him.

He went on a little mad one.

He flipped the table, broke some chairs. Nearly all his plates were smashed, and his knuckles were bleeding from hitting the walls.

But he couldn't help it.

He just lost everything.

He was broken so he wanted to break some other things. He needed the place to look like how he felt right now.

Soon enough, he was against the press in the kitchen, sitting with his knees pulled to his chest as he let his tears fall freely.

He just lost everything.

* * *

His room always got the sun in the evening, so next time he woke he knew it must've been past 8pm since the sun was setting.

He sighed gently and rolled over onto his back, staring up at the roof a moment to try shake the dream of that horrible day.

It had been so long ago though, he thought he was over it, he was over it, and more, for the longest time sure!

So why was it still having such an impact on his life?

Why was it still plaguing him?

Why was she still in his head.

"Because you love her, you idiot.." He growled to himself, reaching over to the other side of the mattress and putting his aids back in place before getting up from the bed.

Dammit, he hated that thought.

They had lived such separate lives the past few years, been through such horrible things, such amazing things. They have finally built a best friend relationship once more and now he realised he still loves her!?

He went and unlocked the door, leaving then to go to the kitchen to grab a drink.

Once he had the bottle opened and the fridge closed, he noticed something wrapped in tin foil and a note attached.

He raised an eyebrow and took the note, smiling to himself as he read it.

_'Bird Brain,_  
_Kate didn't know what she was asking, don't be too mad and give me a call later if you need to talk._  
_Eat this first though._  
_And for the love of god have a shower!_  
_-Natasha.'_

Dammit, she knew him too well.

He took the dinner and put it in the microwave before downing his beer in one and going for another.

These women really were going to be the death of him!

One constantly crushed his mind, the other constantly crushed his heart.

How was he to compete with that!?

Just.. Survive the women for three days then you can kill some assholes, Barton.

Simple.

Right..?

Oh, why weren't women simple..


	2. Chapter 2

SO! NO READING UNLESS YOU'VE SEEN AGE OF ULTRON! I DON'T WANNA BE RESPONSIBLE FOR SPOILING THINGS FOR YOU CAUSE THEN I'D CRY FOR BEING THAT PERSON!

REVIEWERS!

Niom Lamboise; Thanks for the love! You'll get everything, don't worry, I promise!

Final exams soon, so, thank means procrastination chapterrrrs!

Disclaimer; Don't own anything to do with Marvel! Wish I did, really do, so much Clint mvoies would be made..

Sigh.. I'll still dream!

Review please!

* * *

"So, what happened in Budapest?"

That was probably the only sentence that would made Clint Barton miss. Because instead of the arrow making a nice thump sound as it embedded itself into the dummy's heart, it went straight into the roof as he nearly fell over.

He looked to Kate with slightly wide eyes at the question, trying to form his words in his mind before coming to his mouth.

"What?" Ok, word, but it was better than nothing!

She grinned and shrugged, looking back to the bow in her hands as she finishing up re-stringing it.

"Where did you even hear about that?" He sighed, shaking his head a little in bewilderment as he necked another arrow.

"Tony." Of course.. "But it isn't in any of the SHIELD files that were leaked!"

He grinned a little to himself and nodded, sending arrow after arrow into the targets at blinding speed.

"More often than not, missions Nat and I go on aren't SHILED sanctioned.."

"Rebels then.." Kate hummed, stepping up next to Clint when her bow was finally balanced enough for her liking.

He just laughed and shook his head, going over to the dummy then to retrieve his arrows.

"Not quite. Sometimes we find things, sometimes SHIELD doesn't want to meddle. Sometimes we really, _really_ do want to meddle.."

"So; meddlers then?" She corrected, sending an arrow zooming past Clint's ear and into the dummy.

It was fine, he didn't waver or get a fright. He thought this kid how to shoot, he knew she wouldn't hit him!

Not accidentally, at least..

"Basically an Avengers job description; 'Almighty fucking meddlers with no lives'. Should know that by now, Kitty-Kate." He shrugged, sitting on one of the little benches in the training room so he could pack up his bow and arrows.

He froze when an arrow lodged itself in the wall by his head, just scraping by him. He glanced up at Kate with wide eyes, the female archer glaring at him as she aimed an arrow at his face.

"Sorry, sorry.. No Kitty.." He said softly, holding his hands up defensively.

"Good!" She cheered with an all too sweet smile, and damn that was scarier than her glare! "When's Natasha picking you up?"

"Three hours, twenty seven minutes." He replied after glancing at his watch, taking the arrow from the wall and packing it with the rest. Who knows? He might need it!

"You'll be careful, right?" She said quietly, and it was a rare thing for Barton to hear in her voice. Worry. She was usually smart, sassy, usually taking every opportuinity to down size him.

He had to give a sad little smile, because he really didn't like worrying people, especially not someone he basically saw as his child.

"Just recon, Kate.." He said softly, watching as she sent arrow after arrow into the dummy, a frown set on her face though. "We don't even know if anyone will be around there, just a hunch of some agents out there."

"Like you're ever safe on simple recon." She scoffed, and he had to laugh. Because it was damn true! He always managed to find danger in the simple and safe missions.

"Well, what can I say? Bullets love me." He laughed, pulling on his jacket after he zipped up his duffle bag. He would usually stay with Kate and help her shoot, but he had a mission to prepare for!

"Keep your elbow up." He commented as he headed toward the door of the little gym they were in, bag slung over his shoulder. "It keeps slipping when you draw."

"Tell me about Budapest when you're back!?" She called after him, and he turned to smile at her. She was still just shooting away, such a good little Hawkeye!

"Buy me some whiskey and I might!" With those words, he left the gym to head home.

They never said goodbye. Never said see you soon. He never did, anyway. A superstition of his.

Telling her about Budapest was unfinished business.

He always had to leave for a mission with unfinished business.

Cause he'd be damned if he couldn't finish it!

* * *

"But think about it!"

"Clint.."

"Like, when Tony had the reactor in.."

"Clint!" She was laughing a little though, so he went on!

"Like, if Bucky got a little too close.."

"I swear Barton!"

"Seriously Nat! How would we get them apart!?" He laughed, glancing at her when she facepalmed before looking back to the road with a grin.

"What the hell goes around your head..?"

"It's a major weakness, when y'think about it.." He hummed, but she cut him off once more.

"I don't want to think about it."

Natasha was so toally regretting choosing to drive from New York to Chicago rather than fly.

Only three hours down.

In a twelve hour journey.

He was going to drive her MAD!

"Like, just set up a giant magnet and leave him there! Bam! No more Winter Soldier!"

"Not sure how happy Rogers would be about that." She laughed, he could see her from the corner of his eyes putting her feet on the dash and relaxing back.

"Why not!? I just figured out how he could get his boyfriend back!" He grinned, his fingers tapping along with the song playing quietly on the radio. "Though that'll make Tony jealous.."

"Alright! Don't even go there!" She laughed, hitting his arm as she spoke. "The day those two even think about hooking up is the day I clean that apartment of yours!"

"Deal!" He grinned, the word being cheered barely a moment after hers left her mouth. That's how confident he was about this bromance!

"You're an idiot.." She laughed, and he just sent her a smile before letting silence fall upon them.

He had no idea how long they'd be gone for. SHIELD usually had dealines, times that Fury wanted you back in or else you just weren't coming back.

But this was just them.

They weren't really affiliated with SHILED anymore.

Or The Avengers.

They were just Natasha and Clint.

They were Hawkeye and Widow.

They just went wherever the hell they were needed.

Or where the bastard Anderson poked his head up in.

He really didn't mind how long the mission would take though. Because even just the past three hours were the most fun he'd had in a long time.

Most relaxed he's been too. After the whole Ultron fiasco, things went a little south. The past few years have been going a little south. But it only takes a straw to break a camels back, and after the robot apocalypse nearly a year ago, as Tony likes to call it, the straws just kept piling up.

That didn't matter right now though!

Because, in this moment, he was happy! So that's all that matters!

He had gotten into a habit of pushing everything down, no point in telling people about these things.

He was trying to hide things from Natasha. Trying his best to make sure she kind of thought that he was doing ok with everything. But after so many years, he knew she saw right through his bullshit.

"How're the kids?"

He smiled a little at the question, it being the first thing to break the silence in nearly forty minutes. She's asked that more in the past few months than she has in all the years she's known of them.

"They're doing good.." He replied softly, driving along with one hand so he could rest his head on the other. "Was supposed to have them this weekend."

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked, and he didn't need to look at her to know she was frowning at him. It was all in her tone.

"Because you would've pushed this back. And I'd rather know this guy is off the streets." He shrugged, which was true. He needed to get at least one thing off his mind before he went minding kids!

"I think your children are more important, Clint.." She sighed, but he just shrugged once again. He knew they were, they were pretty much his world, but he needed to make sure the world was safe for them first and foremost.

"Laura wasn't happy, but it's fine, I'm sure I can see them when we're back.."

Silence again.

They were avoiding so many topics and it made things kind of awkward.

So much shit had happened in each of their lives.

So much horrible stuff over the past year that sometimes can be worse than any bullet wounds.

But it was all way too fresh.

And neither was ready to open up fresh wounds lest they scar.

"Kate knows about Budapest." He said with a slight grin after another while, and he could just make out her quiet chuckle.

"Yeah, she asked me about that the other night."

"Didn't tell her?" He asked with a curious smile, and she simply gave him a little wink.

"We need our secrets sometimes, Clint."

He laughed at that, though he wasn't entirely sure if it was a major secret he should be keeping!

He had many MANY more worth saving!

He glanced at the clock on the dash.

Four and a half hours down, seven and a half to go!

* * *

_An arrow was necked and held by his side as he skirted along the hallway's walls._

_Someone was screaming, a blood curdling scream that set the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. Female, he'd know that anywhere._

_Another room proved empty. Like properly empty. It was just pitch black, he couldn't tell what or who was inside until it was too late._

_He gulped a little and raised an arrow, just waiting. He had been in this position so many times before that he just knew what was going to happen._

_Sure enough, a Chitauri soldier sped out and knocked him on his ass._

_Scrambling to get his arrow once more, he necked it and rolled on his back, sending it flying into the aliens skull right before he attacked the archer._

_He rolled on his side to avoid the impact of the alien craft, it smashing against the wall then simply disappearing._

_Clint let out a frustrated sigh and rolled on his back once more, the quiver not even giving him any discomfort. He gently banged his head against the floor a few times._

_"The hell are you doing, Barton..?" He whispered to himself, eyes shut as he let his head rest down for a moment._

_Not too long though, because another scream filled his ears that caused his eyes to snap open and his whole body to sit upright._

_"Where are ya, kid!?" He called out, jumping up and straight into a sprint down the hall once more._

_So many doors in this place! Each one revealed hidden enemies that were slowly sucking the energy, and the arrows, from him._

_Room after room and it was all the same!_

_Chitauri, Ultron bots, old foes, drug lords, assassins sent after him. So many past missions, so many people wanting him dead, all here to try finish the job._

_He was panting when he reached the end of the hallway, one final door facing him. His body was in so much pain, he couldn't even pin point where it was coming from anymore._

_The screams had gotten much louder the closer he got to this door, so he knew the owner had to be behind here._

_He took a moment and, once more, necked an arrow in his bow._

_Damn.. Last one.. Better finish this quick Barton.._

_Taking a deep breath, he opened the door slowly and peeked inside. This room wasn't like the others. This one wasn't pitch black, it had a single light in the centre of the room._

_Under the light stood a figure, hunched over themselves with their back to him. A girl, definitely. The long hair gave that away. Definitely the person who owned those screams._

_The shaking shoulders of the girl gave him the idea that she was crying, but he hadn't a clue why._

_"Hey, c'mon.. It's not safe here, we gota go.." He said softly, carefully approaching the figure. It was his 'Go save the fucking civilian, you ass!' voice. The command usually given by the ever charming Natasha Romanoff._

_"He's dead." She simply replied, and it stopped Barton in his tracks. He knew that voice.._

_His bow was up when he entered the room, just to be safe, but it was slowly dropping now as he straed at the figure._

_"He's dead, Agent Barton.." She continued, standing up straight as it seemed she was back to normal. "Because of you."_

_The familiar red force surrounded him before he had a chance to react, lfting him up off his feet and spreading his arms apart so he could no longer draw his arrow._

_He watched as his trusty weapon and arrow flew away from his grasp, going to the hands of yet another familiar figure that seemed to appear from nowhere._

_Though he knew how he got there so suddenly._

_These weren't enemies.._

_Not anymore.._

_"What..?" The new-comer said with a slightly cocky smirk, setting the arrow up in the bow as he spoke. "You didn't see that coming?"_

_He was struggling to reply, because the force generated by the young lady was crushing his chest a little too much._

_"P-Pietro.." He gasped out, wincing a little when the force confining him got a bit tighter._

_Damn Wanda and her powers.._

_"Don't want me here anymore, old man?" He asked with a frown, a fake one, he knew that from the sarcastic tone lacing his words._

_"If you died, archer.. Then my brother could live." Wanda said quietly, she was always so soft spoken, even when threatening someone. With a simple flick of a hand, he was thrown against a wall rougher than ever before._

_He lay on his side against the wall for a moment, trying his best to get rid of the stars that danced across his vision._

_Slowly, he tried stand up, though he was soon knocked off his feet once again by a blur._

_He let out a curse as he was kicked onto his back, the boot of Pietro Maximoff holding down his chest with all his weight._

_"I don't know why I did it really.."_

_"Either do I." Barton cut in, staring up at the kid as he aimed the arrow right between the archers eyes._

_"Should have just let that robot kill you.." He growled, and for once Clint agreed with the kid. That's definitely what should have happened. _

_Clint let his eyes slip closed, knowing what was coming next. _

_"You're living on my time. So I'm taking it back now.. Goodbye Agent."_

He let out a slight yelp as he shocked himself awake, staring straight ahead as he tried slow down his breathing.

Damn nightmares..

They were always the same. And he could safely say, he deserved everything that happened in them..

How did Wanda even forgive him after that? It was all his fault that her brother was dead. He was reckless, he let himself get caught off guard. He was weak, and that weakness cost a kid his life.

He let out a shaky sigh and wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking down at his hands then to try get them to stop shaking.

"I was going to try wake you.." He didn't look at the softly spoken voice, he needed a moment before he could look anyone in the eye. Difficult in such a small car though. "You were pretty restless, but I know better than to startle you awake."

"Thanks.." He replied a little too weakly for his liking. These damn dreams always had him messed up.

"Wanna talk about it?" She asked, her tone letting him know she was smiling a little. Probably her reassuring 'Things aren't as fucked up as you think they are, Clint.' smile.

"Thanks Tash, but some other time.." He said with a slight smile of his own, resting the side of his head against the window and closing his eyes once more.

"Gonna hold you to that." She simply replied, and he gave a genuine smile then.

"Nosey bitch.."

"Worried bitch." She corrected in a whisper, and his eyes opened at her words.

Now he felt really bad.

He shouldn't be worrying his friends, it wasn't what the amazing Hawkeye does. He doesn't worry people, he worries about them. He looks after people, he saves people, he saves the world.

He lets kids die for him..

He gave a slight sigh and glanced at the clock on the dash.

Another hour then he can drown his thoughts at the hotel bar..

Another hour then he can drown the kid from his memory for a while..


	3. Chapter 3

Can y'tell it's finals week yet? ;)

I should be studying! I should be, I can't become Tony Stark without this degree! But my stories are way more important cause. lets face it, I love you guys more than Fluid Mechanics!

REVIEWERS!

Niom Lamboise; I do love your reviews my friend! I dunno, I like Kate, and you'll see in some chapter soon why she asks things so much. I usually see it more as a way of her trying to annoy Clint more than anything, but that's just me! :P But thank you for the praise, hopefully you like the rest!

Thanks for reading lads, I do apologise for always having these AN's, but like, it's the only way to communicate with y'all!

Review please! Let me know what to do next!

DISCLAIMER; So, lads, I think y'all know by now I don't own Marvel. Seriously like, nothing to do with it. Not even a little bit. I own some tattoos, and some posters, and the cutest little Hawkeye Pop figure! But that's about it! I OWN NO RIGHTS TO THIS STUFF, JUST WANNA MESS WITH THEIR CHARACTERS!

* * *

"Usual plan?"

"Hasn't failed us yet." She replied to his question with a shrug, he noticed she was a little too busy cleaning her gun to look at him right now.

They got to the hotel in Chicago a little after 5pm. It was getting more and more difficult to find a hotel that they hadn't already wrecked! This was a fancy one, the room was huge. They were acting couply, avoid suspicion, so they got a room together. One with a large double bed. The usual stuff then, a fairly alright en suite, a desk, a tv on the wall, and a table which she was currently sitting at.

Clint had gone out to grab them some food and he came back to find her cleaning all their weapons. A habit, he knew, she had when she was restless. He was surprised she wasn't tired actually!

He set the food down infront of her, the usual mission food for her, a nice healthy chicken salad and some water.

He was never quite as good an agent, he happily sat down opposite his partner and grinned as he took out the nice giant burger, instantly taking a bite of it with a happy sound.

"Well we can scout out the place later then." She said with an amused smile, setting her weapon carefully aside to eat her own food. "Not even sure how many Hydra idiots the kids saw around. Can never trust new agents."

"Don't have to remind me of that. Still have the scars on my legs from the shrapnel they caused!" He laughed, taking apart his burger a little so he could pile some chips ontop of the meat.

"You're an animal, Barton. I swear." Natasha laughed, shaking her head as she ate.

He just grinned and shrugged, eating away without taking any notice of her.

"Why'd you take the mission if you don't know there is one?" He asked after swalling his burger pretty much hole, nibbling away on chips now. He knew better than to talk to the Widow with a full mouth. He couldn't feel his balls for a week the last time he did that.

"I dunno." She shrugged, a slight smile on her face as she went through the mission file that may not be a mission file. "Incase it is something, I guess. We'd regret it if it turned out he was here and we didn't check it out."

He nodded with a little sound of understanding, standing then to go change out of his traveling clothes. They were pretty horrible after twelve hours in a car!

"You gonna come out with me?" He asked with a grin, finding a shirt and some jeans. If he was going out for a while, he should dress smart for the time!

"I think I'll stick to scouting the hotel." She replied with a smile, going back to cleaning the weapons like before.

He nodded a little, facing away from her then so he could strip down and change. He was hoping she'd say yes and come out for a while! It had been a pretty long time since they just went out and had a few for fun! But he knew their usual plan. She scoped inside, he scoped out.

"Trying to find escape routes?" He asked with an amused smile, busy buttoning up his shirt.

"Always helpful for when you come back with a bullet in you." She laughed, and he pouted a little at the joke.

"I amn't THAT bad." He frowned, turning to look at her then.

She was giving him that 'Oh, that's bullshit and you know it!' look.

He thought about it for a moment and found that he couldn't disagree with her. So she had a little bit of a laughing fit when he just turned to get his shoes with a "Smart arse.." comment.

"Get another room if you bring someone home." She said with a smirk as he leaned over to get his room key, and he just shot her a grin.

"You know you're the only woman I need in my bed." He whispered before giving her cheek a little kiss.

He was gone without another word, out the door and off to explore the little area of Chicago they were staying in.

Chicago.

In November.

Not their smartest choice really! But hey, it's still kind of warmer than some places they had missions.

When he stepped outside, he pulled his jacket up a little tighter around him. It was still only early evening, but it was nearly dark already. Their hotel was on a main street, so he could hear the hustle and bustle of restaurants and bars.

He paused in his little walking adventure when he spotted a bar across the street. It looked nice, a sign saying Karaoke.. He has to go in!

He shook his head of the thought and continued walking, his hands going into his coat pockets to try keep in some heat. He had to scope out the place first. Mission always comes first.

Then fun!

To a civilian observer, he probably looked pretty damn suspicious. Some random alone guy, walking up and down the street four times, then dipping in and out of each alley way on the fifth time round.

But, it was routine. One of the pair would analyse the place they were staying in for all escape routes, hiding places, and, well, hiding-body places. The same would be done by the other person outside, about a mile radius around so they can get the best possible mind map of where they were.

Being the gentleman, and whipped partner, that he is; he was always given the outside job instead of the nice indoor one.

More than once, he's been stopped by cops when trying to complete tasks like this. More than anything; THAT'S the reason why he took the outdoor duty. He was used to dealing with cops, and in all fairness, they do have to check why someone is suspiciously wandering the streets. More often than not, he just made the excuse 'I'm just visiting and can't find such and such a place.' and it worked 99% of the time. So, he does this, because if Natasha was to be stopped by cops while surveying, she'd be in the jailhouse for the night and the courthouse in the morning for assault of an officer with a deadly weapon.

After the street search, came his favourite part of any scope mission; getting to know the locals!

Especially now-a-days when all he wanted was to relax with a drink!

For the last few streets, he was basically dead on his feet. He just travelled all streets and alleys around their hotel, so nearly three hours of walking had him shattered.

As soon as he saw that pub come into view though, man-oh-man he started to run!

It wasn't like his little local one. His was, what he called, an old man bar. He could sit in peace in a corner, only being disturbed by the odd old man who'd stop to tell war stories or talk about their grand kids while buying him some drinks. Kate always teased that he was right at home, amoung his own age group.

Here, though, it was some kind of karaoke-club-bar-thing-a-ma-bob. A teenage place, with the odd older person out to have a night they could never have during their youth.

Music was loud, REALLY loud, though it was coming up to 9pm so the party around this place would be starting.

All the girls seemed young enough to be his kids. He felt way out of place until he spotted some older people at the bar. Must be where the stiff adults sit while the kids run around the club with eachother.

So, he found a stool at the bar, gave a slight nod and a polite 'hello' to the man sitting next to him, then ordered himself a nice tall whiskey.

One of many for the night!

That way, when he went back to the hotel room, maybe he could have a bit of dreamless, nightmareless sleep before the real mission starts tomorrow.

* * *

"Right, left, right, left.." He whispered to himself as he walked into the hotel reception, a stupid grin plastered on his face as he tried concentrate on putting one foot infront of the other.

The teenagers got to him! While he was sitting there, happily enjoying his whiskey and occasional pint, some lads came over and started buying him shots for what reason he couldn't tell!

Then their dates came over, young ladies, trying their best to get him to drink with them aswell.

So he did! He was just going to have maybe three drinks and head home before midnight. But now, it was 5am, and he was trying to operate the elevator in reception. Much to the amusement of the young lady behind the desk.

"She'll kill me.. So Shh*hic*shh.." He said to the laughing woman, who just made a zip gesture across her lips before throwing away the key.

He gave her a thumbs up with a grin. "I like you, Sandra!"

He didn't know if her name was Sandra. But she looked like a Sandra to him! He could just hear her laugh a little more as he stumbled into the elevator.

"Ohhhhhhhh floor number~" He sang to himself, trying his best to focus on the blurry buttons infront of him.

It was November.. So floor 10, month minus 1.. So he pressed floor number 10! Knowing it would be the last room at the end of the hall, hopefully the one next to the fire escape, but usually mainly the easterly facing room so they could tell the time of day incase something happened and they didn't have a watch.

They were way too predictable! But it's how they always knew where each other would be staying incase of emergencies.

"Natasha's gonna kill you, Barton.." He chuckled quietly to himself, glad it was a key card rather than a normal key. The less effort required right now, the better!

He shushed the door as it opened, a soft creak sounding through the room. He shushed it once again when it clicked closed behind him. She'd murder him if the door woke her! Bold door!

He stood by the offending door for a moment to survey the room. No one in the bed, but that's where Natasha should be. Another hiccup rattled through his body as he stood there, then he managed to faintly hear the shower.

Ah! Early morning trainging session! He forgot she was a damn early riser!

He wobbled his way over to beside the bed, grabbing one of the pillows off of it and placing it on the floor. He quite happily fell down then to lie next to the bed, giving the pillow a little nuzzle when he realised it smelled like her.

Sleeping on a floor, classic mission style.

As he drifted into a dreamless sleep, he realised one thing, he seriously missed being a spy!

* * *

"Clint.."

The voice was quiet, which was perfect, since his head was currently thumping away at not a nice beat at all. He gave a slight groan and rolled over onto his side, reaching a lazy hand up to his ear to try take out his aids. Though a gentle grip stopped him.

"C'mon, you little idiot. Get some food into you before you throw up again."

Again?

He peeked his eyes open and looked up at the owner of the voice, a fairly concerned Natasha Romanoff sitting on the edge of the bed next to him with a glass of water in her hand.

"Hey there.." He rasped out, his throat feeling like sandpaper. Maybe he went a little too hard last night..

"Hey yourself.." She smiled, putting the glass down on the bedside cabinet to help her partner sit up.

He groaned once more as a nauseous feeling overtook him, though he managed to get it under control when he closed his eyes for a few moments.

"How much do you remember?" She laughed out when she handed him the water, his throat damn thankful for the little sips he was taking.

He closed his eyes once more to try think, shrugging then. "Honestly don't remember after the third shot.."

"Oh, shots never agree with you, you know that." She laughed once more, ruffling his hair a little as she stood up.

"Hey, I can handle them!" He growled, using the bed to help him stand up. A thin blanket was over him that he never knew existed. She must have put it over him.

"Put your aids on full volume then tell me that." She smirked, watching him as she cut up an apple. Fruit always helped his hangovers, it was odd how she knew that so well.

He rasied an eyebrow at her words, glancing down at the control bracelet on his wrist to see that the hearing aids he relied on were actually only at about 40%. He hummed in thought when he saw it.

"Damn.. Even this is killing me.."

"Light weight." He heard her mutter in Russian as he left the room to go to the bathroom, letting the cold water of the sink run for a moment.

He needed to get his stomach under control before talking to her about anything!

He took out his aids and set them on the sink before letting his head fall under the cold water flow, allowing the stream of water to soak the back of his head. No better way to wake himself up!

He took a quick glance at his watch a moment before he dipped his head and it was already past 4pm. How she let him sleep so long, he'd never know.

Then again, she did kind of hint that he got sick. So maybe he was up already..

Damn alcohol ruining his memory!

He gave a slight sigh and grabbed the hand towel from the side of the sink, ruffling the water from his hair before heading back out to his partner.

"Your scope go ok?" He asked softly, pointing to his ears to let her know the aids weren't back in yet, so she had to sign for a few minutes.

_'Not as fun as yours, it seems.'_ She signed in reply, the smile letting him know she wasn't mad about it though. She nodded to the cut up apple on the table, her way of saying eat it now or I'll kick you in the shins.

He gave a little chuckle and nodded, grabbing an apple slice from the table before sitting down.

"Hey, I got my local news!" He cheered with a smile, rubbing at his eyes a little though to try get the sleep out of them. She raised an eyebrow to let him go on. He just shook his head. "They've noticed nothing unusual. No missing people, no out of the ordinary attacks, just the normal muggings. No strange figures or anything. I'm sure that the strangest thing they probably noticed is some strange man coming into a bar and asking them all these weird questions."

_'So, no leads?'_ She signed with a slight frown, and he nodded.

"No leads. Think your little newbies were just over reacting to something."

_'Well, get dressed. We're going snooping some warehouses once darkness hits.'_ She signed quickly, a little smile on her face.

He grinned and nodded, stuffing down another piece of apple before skipping to the bathroom to get ready.

It had been way too long since he's done a mission with her, alone!

So he couldn't wait to get back into the game!

Hangover and all!

Hangovers could never stop STRIKE Team: Delta!


	4. Chapter 4

Another! ...This is long... Damn. I just couldn't stop writing though and just had to eventually! Yeah, they won't all be this long.. I think..

Half way through an exam and a billion story ideas hit me! Exam proctors probably thought I was mad because I was just furiously scribbling notes on my hand :P Gotta love exams lads, gotta love exams!

Reviewers, my lovely lovely reviewers!

Fur-Natalia; Emmm.. It'll all become clear, ok? Relax! I promise you! :) Thank your for the review and for reading!

Niom Lamboise; I really do look forward to your reviews! Might see a fair bit of that in this story, I like this story alot! :P Enjoy my dear!

Enjoy folks! Review and let me know what to do next! Might be able to change my mind!

Disclaimer! I own nothing to do with Marvel! Ok? Ok!

* * *

"Nat, it's cold!" He complained with a shiver, trying his best to shift to a comfortable position on the rooftop.

"Really? Cause I'm nice and happy by this fire." She replied, and even though it was through the comms, he could just tell she had a smirk on.

He gave a low growl and looked through the sniper rifles scope once more, scanning the room of the club until he found Natasha once again.

"One bullet, Widow.." He growled out, his shivering only coming under control when his fingers were over the trigger. He was a professional, in this situation at least, so he knew how to steady his nerves at the right moment.

"Oh, it'll take more than that to get rid of me." She laughed back, and this time the scope let him see that she was indeed smirking away to herself. "You should know that by now, Hawkboy."

He let the conversation drop when a gentleman approached Natasha, two drinks in his hands. Chancer, as far as Barton could remember no one even asked her if she wanted a drink.

They were on this stake out for a good three hours now, but while she was getting herself all done up in a (he'd admit it) damn fine get up, he was up on the freezing cold roof for hours before hand.

So she's been in the nice fancy pancy warm theatre, in her little too tight, little too revealing, black dress, getting free drinks from guys and getting evil looks from women as their boyfriends and husbands stared at her a little too long.

As for Barton? Well he's been lying on his stomach, staring through a scope of a rifle, on a freezing roof top, in nothing but his black tact vest and combats, in the dead of Winter, in Chicago. How come she always got the easy jobs!?

This was their third day on the mission. The second was spent trying to a) sober Clint's ass up and get him over a hangover from hell, and b) gather intel from the little newbie agents about where they think these Hydra folk would be.

One main Hydra guy was said to get an invitation to this gala/some sort of play world premier thing, so that meant the ever beautiful Natasha Romanoff was to go undercover once again, try single this guy out, and bring him back their room. For some fun!

Not the thugs definition of fun, no no, Black Widow's definition of fun!

"Not our guy..?" Clint asked softly, after his partner politely turned down the guy who came over. He was smirking a little. That girly giggle she gives when she's undercover always amused him!

"Photographic memory, Clinton. I know the guy we're looking for." She replied softly, and he just sighed and let his head fall away from the scope.

"Quit calling me Clinton, Natalia!" He growled, just letting his forehead rest on the roof now. This mission was already annoying him!

"Sorry, Francis." Damn that voice.. She was trying to wind him up!

He growled once more and raised his head, purposely clicking the safety off the rifle loudly so she'd hear before aiming it at her.

"Just gimmie a reason, Romanoff!"

He smiled slightly when she faced the window, the one he told her to stay by, and signed the words 'Relax little Hawk.'. She knew him too well. That nick-name always calmed him down, no matter the situation.

She died her hair that day. Getting rid of the trade mark red hair for a blonde this time. Short too. He didn't like it, not even a little bit. But Hydra were moles inside SHIELD for so long that the first sight of long red hair would be an instant give away. Not that it made her face look that different, but little low level thugs wouldn't really be able to tell it was the infamous Black Widow.

"Got a 20." He finally heard over the comms, having just been sitting there for another half hour humming to himself while some guy chatted up Natasha.

Ok, maybe he was humming because he couldn't listen to her flirt back, maybe he couldn't look at her get close to another guy, maybe he might be a little bit jealous.. Even though he knew that the way she was talking to them was completely and totally fake, he just wished that she'd talk like that with him again. The little giggles, the soft voice, even the little arm touch when she thought she went too far with a joke..

He shook his head of the thoughts currently swimming around his mind and set up his aim, sure enough, a familiar looking face was walking through the crowd, stopping and talking to people.

Not old, not young. Kind of around his age actually.. Damn that meant he wasn't young but was kind of old.. What the hell was a middle-aged man like himself doing lying on his stomach on a roof!?

_Mission BARTON! _

God, he got distracted so easily lately!

The suit annoyed him. Only assholes wore grey suits. It was a fact! They wanted to stand out, get noticed. They're attention hungry, ego hungry, assholes.

_Getting too worked up Barton.._

_Why are you talking to yourself Barton.._

"Oh, excuse me.." Natasha said in her sweet voice, he could just hear it over the comms, drawing his attention back to the mission. He shook his head a little and tried find her with the scope.

Sure enough, she had bumped into the guy and spilled her drink 'accidentally' and was now apologising profusely, saying that she may have had one too many free champagnes.

He smirked a little. The guy was eating this up. A sweet talking, hot as hell itself woman coming over, proclaiming she's too drunk to even hold her drink properly? What asshole wouldn't jump at that opportunity?

"Well that's perfectly ok, Mrs..?" He spoke softly, taking her arm without even asking to lead her off somewhere.

_Assshole asshole asshole.._

Can you tell yet Hawkeye really dislikes this guy already?

Clint struggled to keep his sights on them. Windows tended to disappear around where they were going. But he knew Natasha, she was trying her best to keep them by windows so Hawkeye could keep a shot open in case she needed it.

"Miss Sullivan." She smiled, gratefully accepting a napkin he handed her to wipe the drink from her dress. She over exaggerated the miss.

Clint had nothing to fear. He may as well pack up. This guy was caught hook, line and sinker.

"Well, miss Sullivan.." He started, and Clint noted that he was leaning in a little closer to her, his hand on her arm. He couldn't make out faces, not let alone their expressions, that well though, it was way to dark for that. "This play isn't quite my standard. How about I take you back home so you can sleep this off?"

Well, he doesn't wait around, does he? Clint scoped the building out once more, feeling something was off. A van had pulled up outside then took off a little too quickly, that was never a good sign.

Doing a quick scan, he finally noticed three guys trying to jimmy open a side door to the little theatre.

"Got a 20 on three." He said calmly to the comms, and he could hear Natasha excusing herself to the ladies room just after agreeing to leave with him. Mission mode, so mission voice was on Clint for this. "Orders?"

"Don't shoot." She replied after a moment or two, she must have found it difficult to find a quiet place. The trio already had the door open and had entered. "Rifle or arrows. Do not shoot. We can't have him notice. Can you get them?"

"Yes ma'am." He replied curtly. Mission mode! She was his boss on this one! He stood and quickly dismantled the rifle before packing it back in it's case, his bow and arrows sitting on either side outside of it too just in case. Wasn't a heavy thing, so it easy sat on his back like a quiver as he ran off and climbed down the fire escape.

"Careful Hawk. Still don't know why they're targeting this place." She was quiet now, mission mode gone as her voice softened. He couldn't help but smile at it. "I'll hog this guy and bring him to warehouse three. Meet me there, no more than an hour, got it?"

"Yes ma'am. Meet you there 23:07. Bring the whiskey!" He replied with a slight grin, crossing the street to the jimmied open door and sneaking in himself.

He didn't have any idea where the trio would have gone, but luckily the corridor literally only went one way. So he hurried along it to hopefully catch up,

_No shooting, Barton._

He had to keep reminding himself of that, because his hand kept going to reach for the bow resting on his back.

He paused and flushed himself against the wall when he began to hear hushed voices, not making out any words right now though. They were close though, that much he could tell.

"Widow, you still there..?" He whispered into the comm unit, getting nothing back though. Damn, she was already out of range.. He knew they should have grabbed Stark's comms before they left! Those things just don't run out of range!

He sighed in annoyance and rest his head against the wall for a moment, taking a moment to think things through without Widow! He had heard the click of a gun, he needed to know if he was allowed shoot if they shoot first but his commanding officer decided to fuck off with some guy!

_Can't draw attention to the fact we're here Barton.. News would just LOVE that.._

_Yeah, 'Avengers shoot up an opening for world renowned play'! Oh, Stark Public Relations would earn their money's worth with that one!_

With no response, he was on his own. No orders. Just how he liked it! He'd play nice though, so he just made sure that the knife that was positioned in his boots was easy to grab. He's fine with hand to hand, but not when guns are involved!

"So, guys, listen.." He said as he finally caught up to the trio, though there were only two at some door. Both their guns trained instantly on Barton so he put his arms in the air to show he wasn't a threat. He had left the case with his gun and bow by the wall before he drew their attention. He hadn't a clue where the third guy disappeared to, but the door had a sign saying "RAFTERS; STAGE" on it, so he had a fair idea. "I really don't wanna fight.. I'm still fighting a hangover here, and I lost contact with Widow, and I just.."

"Who the hell are you!?" The guy on the left screamed, and he pouted at the question. He might not be in hie SHIELD gear, or Stark funded fancy Avengers design suit, but come on!

He at least hoped some bad guys would know about Hawkeye; the most handsome and favourite Avenger! ...Ok, like, fifth favourite.. Out of the five guys..

"Come on man! Don't be that way!" He pouted, visibly deflating when both men looked at each other in confusion. "Really?"

He sighed in annoyance and shook his head, he was really hoping he could just talk to these guys! They looked like idiots though. It seemed they hadn't even thought of shooting, had even began to lower their guns.

It'd take him two seconds to deal with these..

And that it did!

In one swift movement, the knife was pulled from his boot and sent into the guy on the right's shoulder. He didn't even feel bad about it. He kind of felt bad that his surprise attack might have been ruined by the man's scream, and the sound of his gun hitting the floor. But that's about it!

His comrade was less than no help, too stunned to even think of attacking Clint as the first guy fell to the floor in pain. Definitely Hyrda. Any other bad guys could handle this sort of thing no problem.

By the time the non-stabbed one had recovered from his shock and realised what was happening, Clint had the gun ripped from his hands and was pinning him to the door by an arm across the throat. He was in no mood for shit tonight!

"What are you..!" He started to yell, trying to pry Barton's arm from his throat. He was cut off though when Clint quite casually kneed him in the balls.

"Just skip all this, will ya kid?" He sighed, using his free hand to rub his forehead. He could feel a headache coming on! "Just tell me what Hydra are doing here?"

"But.." He started through a pained voice, squirming a little since he couldn't really ease the discomfort currently radiating from his lower area.

"I said skip it man!" Clint sighed, shaking his head a little. He glanced down when he noticed the other guy reach for his gun, and he couldn't help but roll his eyes.

Without letting thug number one go, he reached down and grabbed the knife roughly from thug number two's shoulder. He screamed just as much when it was ripped out, but Clint shut him up by knocking him out with a kick to the head.

"Where were we?" Hawkeye asked with a little smile, pulling his attention back to the guy was pinned against the door. "Oh! Didn't catch your name, kid!"

He let the guy fall to the floor, and he instantly curled up protectively against the wall. Barton gave a slightly sad smile and hunkered down in front of him, knife resting gently on his knee just to remind the kid it was there.

"Sorry about that. But I don't have time for bullshitting, y'know?" Barton smiled, and the kid just glared at him. "And y'kind of upset me by asking who I am.. I mean, I know I don't have my bow and arrow with me, but.."

He stopped when he saw recognition pass over the kids face, and he had to grin when the fear appeared.

"You're too late, archer.." He said quickly, and Barton raised an eyebrow as a silent way of telling him to continue. "Our man's probably in position already.. Target will be taken out in no time."

"Target..?" Barton asked curiously, and the guy just grinned.

"Hail Hydra.." The guy said quietly before crunching something that fell from behind his tooth, and Clint cursed out loud.

It had happened so many damn times and he hated it each bloody time it did!

They'd get a Hydra asshole, take him for questioning, and that damn World War Two cyanide trick would ALWAYS happen!

He checked the kids pulse when the convulsing stopped and, sure, enough he couldn't find any. He scratched the back of his head a little as he thought about what to do. Looking up and down the hall, he couldn't find anywhere to hide the two. So he just had to leave them. He put the knife back in his boot, kicked the guns away in case the still living of the two woke, and went to get the case with his weapons.

What target were they talking about..?

There are so many potential targets here. It was a world premier of some fancy pancy play. A gala was put on, a dinner, a champagne reception, the whole nine yards. There were diplomats, celebrities, important business owners.

It didn't matter who it was, he decided. A civilian needed help. It was his job to help.

Sometimes he hated his job..

With a sigh, he slung the container with his weapons on his back and entered the door to the rafters.

It was dark up there. Maybe not, maybe below was just too bright with the stage lights on.

And holy crap was it cramped! The rafters were built for single person to work, so it was a tight fit for someone to walk across. He tried be silent, but the shake of the steel rafter would give away his approach in no time.

He got to the middle of the walk way and he was still yet to see someone. This seriously confused him. If someone was taken out, the place would be in a panic, but they were all still happily watching the play below.

If someone was setting up to take someone out, he'd be able to see someone by now, even with how dark it was.

There was only one door and that was the one he came in through, so there was no where for the guy to go.

He paused when he heard a familiar 'click'. He had only heard it a short time ago when he was messing around with Natasha.

He glanced down and spotted it. A figure, a little blacked out since the bight lights of the stage were messing with his eyes, but there nonetheless. Sticking over the side was the familiar sight of an assault rifle. Not a subtle machine at all, but it gets the job done better than any.

_You're crazy, Barton.. This is gonna kill you.._

He told himself that three times in a row as the plan crossed his mind, then about a billion more times when he enacted it.

Holding onto the side rails of the rafter he was on, he threw himself off the side, swung himself downwards and kicked the guy away from the gun. He was lucky enough not to overshoot the rafter below, so he landed on it relatively safely. The gun didn't fall, didn't move, so he realised the guy set it up to clip onto the railing. That gave Barton some sort of comfort. It usually meant the shooter wasn't a good enough shot, couldn't hold the gun steady so he needed help from his surroundings.

Barton was barely on steady feet for a moment before a fist was flown his way, but he had enough wherewithal to duck and avoid the blow. When crouched, he swung a leg around to take the guys feet from under him. With a solid 'thump', his attacker fell onto his back. Clint grabbed the knife from his boot once more and went to lean over the guy, knife held over his throat with Clint's knee firmly placed on his stomach to hold him down.

"Agent Barton.. Good to see you again.." The guy whispered with a slight smirk, and Clint had to eye him for a moment to try see if he could place the kid.

Nothing special about the guy. Wore black clothes, just like Barton was wearing, because that's what's smart people wear when they're trying not to be seen! Hair was gelled back, had a comms in his ear which, when Barton saw it, he very quickly ripped from the kids ear so he couldn't get the chance to call for back-up.

One main feature was sticking out though, a long scar going across his cheek. He grinned a little, finally knowing where he knew this kid from.

"Sorry, can't say I remember your name.." Barton started with his grin, increasing the pressure a little with the knife on his throat. "Though I do remember shooting an arrow at you alright, y'little maggot."

SHIELD training. He was put in charge of training up all the little newbies for a while when he was being punished for letting Natasha live. That was a horrible year. Started with strict desk work, then training the newbies, then like level 2 missions with the little newbies before he was allowed out of punishment. They claim it was Fury giving him time to let the bullet hole Natasha gave him heal. But he knew Fury better than that. He was pissed off that Clint disobeyed orders, so he was getting his own back by making him pay!

This kid was a particularly mouthy recruit who just constantly gave Barton a hard time. So, he shot an arrow at the smug bastard during one sparring session where he constantly called the other recruits jokes and failures, not to kill, just to scrape and mess up his pretty boy attitude by ruining his face. 14 stitches ensured that happened! It was a good day that day! That was the day Fury decided he probably shouldn't be trusted with snot nose recruits with god complexes!

"You always were selfish like that.." The kid growled, trying to roll to change their positions. But please, gotta do more than that to shake off Hawkeye! "That's why I had to just leave SHIELD! Too many corrupt agents like you!"

Barton rolled his eyes at the kids words, shaking his head a little then. Same old Hydra bullshit. He never knew what the hell they were going on about, and this time was no different. He needed answers though, just so he knew who the hell to try protect. "Who're you targeting man? Come on, I don't wanna fight."

"Too bad. I owe you one." He grinned back in reply, and before Barton could react and block it, the kids arm broke free from its confinement and whacked him on the side of the head.

Clint went flying over, and as a double 'fuck you Mr. Barton!', the other side of his head whacked painfully off the bar of the rafter.

He gave a quiet chuckle as he tried push himself up to his feet. This reminded him a little too much of fighting Nat on the carrier now..

He shook his head to try clear the stars in his vision, looking over to see the kid at the rifle again.

He couldn't take that now! With a new clear head, he ran for the guy and tackled him to the ground, but his finger was over the trigger so the impact of the tackle made the rifle go off. Clint heard screams and panicked shouts, and he just cursed to himself.

_Please lord let no one be hit!_

He got up from ontop of the shooter and rushed to the rifle, looking through the scope to see if it hit anything.

No one's slumped over, no one's being tended to.. There's just a nice big bullet hole in the wall..

Letting out a relieved sigh, he looked over to the Hydra assassin once again. This kid had to come with him, or be taken out. They couldn't let him wander the streets!

He froze though, because he was looking down the barrel of a pistol. The kid panting slightly as he stood, holding onto his ribs with his free arm.

Clint knew when he was beaten. He could admit such things. So he carefully raised his hands up, showing he wasn't a threat. He was wondering how quickly he could grab his bow from the case..

Somehow, he doubts he's quicker than a speeding bullet.

The knife though..

"You're a fool Barton!"

"Not the first time I've been told that, won't be the last." Clint cut him off with a slight grin, glancing to the right of him to see how close the knife was. Close enough. He just has to force the kid to make a mistake.

"That guy had to be taken out! And you just fucked it all up! You have no idea what he and his organisation are up to!" He was getting angry, Clint noticed his hand was shaking a little.

"More good than yours is up to, I can bet on that." Barton shrugged, testing the kids concentration by slowly shuffling towards the knife. The bullet just skimming his foot told him that the kid was paying more attention than he was letting on.

"Just trust me you ignorant piece of shit." He said lowly, though Barton had stopped listening. He was a little too busy focusing on how to get out of this with the kid taken out and his ass still kind of intact.

All plans had one common factor, and he hated it.

_Gotta take a bullet, Barton.._

Dammit, Tash was gonna kill him if this kid didn't!

"Fury and SHIELD gave you guys jack shit all information! Just the basics of who to take out or who to capture."

"Sometimes it's better not knowing the full story." He shrugged, knowing full well Hydra agents were told completely different things than SHIELD agents were.

Which version was true, he would never know. That's the downside to working with spies. No one can give all the secrets because no one knows them all.

This kid definitely doesn't know them all. He was just told to take someone out and he tried take him out. He's just an over glorified assassin as well.

"Then how do you know you're doing the world any good?" The kid asked, getting increasingly more annoyed if the grip on the gun was anything to go by.

Clint just shrugged. Again, he found he didn't care. He trusted Fury, trusted SHIELD. He's taken out enough bad guys in the world to know he's doing some sort of good.

He finally had a full plan in his head, and it ended with one of the two dying.

"Been fun man!" Clint grinned, turning to the side so the bullet he was about to take wouldn't hit anywhere vital. In a flash, he reached back to try grab his bow from the case on his back, though his arm quickly went numb with the bullet that embedded itself in his shoulder. Numbness never lasted long though..

Lord he didn't miss this pain!

He let out a slight yelp at the pain and fell to his knees, his opposite hand going to try staunch the blood flow coming from the wound on his left arm. Damn, it was high up.. The guy was aiming for the archers head..

The kid was laughing and advancing on Clint, arm now by his side with the gun still gripped. "Not as keen a sharp shooter as you, Hawk.." He started, raising the gun up to rest against the archers temple when he got close enough. Well, that was burning flesh! "But even I can't miss from this distance.."

"Kid, what's the basic 107 I taught you? First day?" Clint asked with a slight smirk, so glad right now that Hydra had some seriously shit agents.

He glanced up from the corner of his eye to see just the confused face of his former student, so he rolled his eyes.

Guess he'd have to show the kid again!

Why did he have to get shot? Simple. To get on the ground to safely get the gun, if not the gun the plan B; knife, and lead his attacker into the false security of getting closer to him.

Basic training 107. Literally first day exercises. Gun to the head is the most vulnerable position anyone can be in, both attacker and attacked. The attacked, for obvious reasons, because his brain could be blown out of his skull in a nanosecond. The attacker, well.

Y'know what? He'll just show how!

_1\. The attacker has his arm outstretched, so first off, swipe the arm._

With his good arm, Clint swung out and pushed the kids arm so the gun was pointing upwards instead.

_2\. While in shooting position, the attacker is off balance. Easy take down! _

This was his favourite bit of this little routine! Sweeping the legs and watching them go down like a sack of potatoes! The kid let out a surprised squeal as he fell to the ground hard, Clint could hear his skull hit off the metal and even he felt bad for it! Simple as simple could be. The whole counter attack took less than a second and it changed the tabled entirely!

He would have grabbed the gun, but it rattled against the mental floor when it fell from the kids grip and he soon heard it hit the wooden floor below.

He let out a sigh and hung his head. Why can't things go his way!?

Oh well!

Plan B!

He simply grabbed the knife to the right of him before getting to his feet. He was bleeding a little too much, but that was fine, Natasha would patch him up! With a boot on the kids chest, and the knife being spun in the archers hand, he contemplated letting the poor guy go for a minute.

"Suppose you'll tell Anderson we're here the second I let you go, huh?" Clint asked through a hum, increasing the pressure on his chest when he tried wriggle free.

That look of fear on his eyes finally gave Clint the name that was eluding him. That same look crossed his face when an arrow was aimed at his head!

"William! Wally? Yeah, the other recruits called you wally!"

"Just kill me already, you asshole! If you don't, he will!" He spat out, and Barton hummed in thought.

"Man, you could've been a good agent.." He pouted, but he meant those words! The kid, with a little training, would have been perfect! Just needed work on those interrogation skills. Because he just gave away that Anderson was, in fact, here!

Clint noticed the familiar mouth movement while he studied the man below him. He was about to crunch that little killer pill.

Nah, Barton wouldn't let little Wally off that easily! Before the pill could be broken, and the usual 'Hail Hydra' bullshit muttered, Clint just stabbed the knife right through the kids throat.

The blood splattered up all over the archer, but he was used to that feeling. To him, it was a comfort. Meant he was safe, meant the battle was over.

With a kick of his boot, a choking and spluttering William went rolling and fell from the rafter to the now empty stage below.

And there he was, on the roof earlier, thinking he was going to have a nice and easy night!

With a rough sigh, he ripped the gun from the railing and slung it over his good shoulder. He winced a little at the pain from the bullet wound.

Now that the adrenaline was leaving him, he could feel it full force. He couldn't tell any more what was his blood and what was the kids. Either way, there was alot of it. He definitely had a concussion aswell, because while he was usually bad at keeping a straight thought, now it was just impossible.

_Warehouse. Natasha. 23:07_.

That's all that was going through his head.

_It's 22:53.._

So with his weapons, his bullet hole, his concussion, and his aching bones, he turned and went to leave the theatre. Not bothering to stop and help with the chaotic scene he had caused.

Why couldn't it have been an easy night..?

* * *

He kind of made it.

Sort of.

Like he found the place, but man was he late!

The warehouse she chose was, at least, the closest one to the theatre. So it should have been simple, right? But when you're concussed, with a gushing bullet wound, and in a sleeveless vest in winter, nothing is simple.

He left the theatre over forty minutes ago, and it took him that long to do a ten minute walk. He was paranoid that someone would follow, a little scared that those three had a chance to call someone. On his way out of the rafter's, he had to send a bullet through the kid he knocked out. He couldn't risk being discovered. If he was, if they were, then Anderson could high tail it and he probably wouldn't resurface for god knows how long!

He smiled a little when he turned the corner of yet another alley, finally seeing the trusty auto-mobile the pair had been crammed in together for 12 hours. Part of the plan. Capture someone, bring them somewhere hidden, and basically live in that place until the mission is complete. He wasn't looking forward to sleeping in a shot out, freezing cold, abandoned warehouse again after so long of having a nice warm home to stay in. But he was so looking forward to sleep, full stop!

His hand was doing next to nothing now to control the bleeding of his shoulder. He was trying to compress it, but he was absolutely freezing, he was tired, and he just couldn't be bothered anymore.

He had to remove his hand to open up the warehouse door, not knowing where his partner would be. It opened up to a big floor area. Dimly lit, Natasha must have managed to get some power into the place, because the few lone bulbs high up were dimly shining.

There were a few rooms leading off the main room, though he couldn't tell which one she would be in and he really didn't feel like going to check. He placed his weapon case and the gun he stole from the Hydra guys down after shutting the door behind him, scanning the place for a moment then.

He gave up and just called.

"Nat?" He tried shout, but could just manage to raise his voice a little bit. It was fine though, because the echo in the place carried it along.

Sure enough, she appeared from one of the rooms, thankfully not too far away.

She took one look at him and her angry face fell into one of worry. He couldn't tell if she was angry about him using her name while a captive was in the place or if it was because he was late. Either way, all anger just disappeared and worry seemed to set in more and more the closer they got to each other.

"Sorry.. Got tied up.." He said with a shy smile once they met halfway, and his legs started to give out on him since his body just knew that it was finally where it was supposed to be.

"Got ya Hawk.." She said softly as she caught him from falling, her hands holding him up by his chest until he regained some of his strength. "Blood loss?"

"Not a clue.. A good bit, not enough to need more pumped in.." He replied quietly, letting her support him by pulling his good arm around her shoulders. He leaned into the support as they made their way to the room next to the one she came out of.

She had it set up as she did all the other horrible places they had to stay in. An oil barrel fire in the middle of the room giving both light and heat to the place, a corner with their food and water and general supplies, and of course a sleeping bag and pillow each for them lay out on the floor.

He sighed a little when she sat him down against the wall, resting his head back against the structure and closing his eyes as his body began to succumb to the tiredness. He could faintly hear their visitor screaming next door, and he couldn't keep the grin from his face. Nat was the best at getting information..

"First aid is in the car. Stay awake Hawk, and I'll be right back." Her stern words hit his ears before the loss of her hand on his arm and the sound of footsteps let him know she was gone.

It didn't do much to help though.

He could just feel the tiredness start to pull him to nothing..

But the fear of his best friend killing him for falling asleep was enough to keep it at bay.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5! Halfway through! On a bit of a roll now lads!

**Natasha views** now! Will be switching a fair but in this story, I think. So I'll let y'all know here what view it's in!

Reviewers!

Niom Lamboise; You always seem to read my mind.. I swear you have a camera in my room or something.. Not the whole chapter in her POV, but kind of from where they split up in the mission! I hope you enjoy!

Enjoy! And review, let me know what to do and I'll try change the chapters to suit! :)

Disclaimer; Still own absolutely nothing to do with Marvel, stop asking you lawyer type people!

* * *

She was NOT able for this sort of stuff anymore! Like really! She was getting way too on in her years to deal with this!

After leaving the hotel, the guy, who simply gave a name of Adam to her, hailed down a taxi and she gave the address of the hotel. He was a little handsy even in the back of the cab, but she kept playing drunk defenceless, up for fun, giggly lady.

Really, she wanted to smack his hands clean off his body.

She had a mission, she had to play the part.

When they got to the hotel, she told him she just had to grab something from her car. So he followed her around, which was perfect, because that's what she was planning on! Opening back the door, she acted like she couldn't reach whatever she was trying to get.

Being the gentleman he was, or the horny man who wanted his ride sooner rather than later, he offered to get it for her. When he was leaning over the back seats, she grabbed the little syringe of tranquilliser from her clutch purse and shot it right into his back. Closest place she could reach, and she really didn't want to lean over the man to reach his neck.

The effect was instantaneous, seeing as how there was enough of the strong medication to knock out a tiger in seconds. It would be more than enough to keep this guy knocked out for a while!

After quite unceremoniously shoving the unconscious body into the back of the Jeep, she drove off in the direction of the warehouse.

And that's where she was now.

But this is usually where Clint takes over!

Like, she's strong alright. Stronger than most people. But to carry an unconscious, fully grown and then some man, into a room, and then hog tie him up? Man, that's just not possible!

She glanced at her watch. He still has twenty minutes. Just to annoy her, he'd use up all that time and arrive with one second to spare! He always did!

She gave a rough sigh and grabbed their duffel bags from the trunk of the Jeep, they knew they'd be leaving the hotel tonight so they packed up before they left for the mission. So she'd change out of this damn dress into something more comfortable, figuring she could leave the captive in the car for a while. He wouldn't wake anytime soon.

She found the power box first and foremost, fiddling with some of the wires until there was finally a spark and a 'pop'. She grinned at her handy work, seeing lights dimly illuminate the place.

_You're fucking awesome, Romanoff! Kick Stark out of that tower, you can so run it!_

She chose this one specifically. It was the largest one of the lot they scoped out the previous day, the closest to the theatre they were in, and it was the most hidden. The last point was the most important because they'd be interrogating a number of people here so it needed to be out of the way so screams wouldn't be heard.

The size was just handy. Whoever they captured they'd be able to keep in separate rooms and then still have some options of rooms for themselves.

The bathroom she found in the place was pretty horrible. Grimy and stinking after so long of no use. It didn't matter too much though, she's stayed in much worse sure. There was a cracked mirror, the lights were working, and after testing it (and letting black sludge run through first) she found that there was a pretty decent water flow coming from the sinks. That was much more than some places, Barton would be happy to have a mirror to shave in! Last time he had to use her little make-up mirror and cut himself to shreds.

She felt so much better when all the make-up was off and her usual SHIELD gear was on! She could never really handle dresses, not in the field at least! She wore them when needed, like undercover or when some fancy Avengers schindig called for it, usually at Pepper's insistence, but they were just impractical more often than not and she just hated that!

When she got outside, she frowned in annoyance at the fact the guy was still in the Jeep and Clint was no where to be found.

_If he went for another fucking drink.._

He was now ten minutes late. The ass. Leaving all the heavy lifting to her! Literally!

She sighed and scratched the back of her head, a habit she picked up from her long time partner she later realised.

"How am I to do this..?" She whispered to herself, her mind coming up with a few options.

She grinned at one of them before going to the trunk and lifting the mat of it, opening up the section with the spare wheel. There was always a dolly trolley in there incase someone isn't strong enough to carry or roll a tyre!

"You're a genius sometimes.." She grinned, setting up the handles of the trolley before wheeling it over to the back door of the car. It was pretty low down, the flat bed of the trolley nearly touching the ground. But she didn't care about hurting the guy with a rough landing. Sure, they'd be doing much worse to him when the time came!

So, she tugged his legs enough for gravity to then take over. She felt kind of bad ruining the suit he was in.. She knew how much Clint hated grey suits, she wanted to make sure it remained intact to wind him up a little!

Once the guy was slumped across the flat bed, and she had the car shut and locked, she pushed the trolley into the warehouse as if she was pushing some cargo into a store house. Going from room to room, she eventually found one with some chairs in it. He had to be tied to something, after all! And she needed his hands to be accessible for Barton's favourite torture method!

_Twenty minutes late.. That's not like Barton.._

Their little visitor was finally tied to the chair properly. Legs tied up to the legs of the chair, arms securely tied to the arm rests, and everywhere she could strap down was strapped down. Clothes were left on though, she really didn't need to see something like that..

She was setting up the weapons on the desk that was in the room when she noticed the time. He definitely went off somewhere, that was the only explanation.

She really needed to talk to him about that drinking problem..

She only found out about it recently, about a week before she showed up at his apartment with this mission. She was talking to Kate on the phone and she commented on how he went out drinking pretty much every night and never returned before day light.

She knew this habit of his.

It happened after bad missions, when there was something he couldn't shake. He wouldn't be able to sleep during the dark hours, so he'd drink himself into a stupor then sleep during the bright hours. It only really ever lasted maybe a month, then he'd snap back.

But her partner had taken a lot more damage this time around.

Not only was there a bad mission, but there was a horrible series of events afterwards that she still doesn't really have any details about. He just shut himself off completely after the divorce, hell, even before the divorce. None of them could get any words out of him, he took it way too hard. It was so bad that a simple mission ended up leaving him on the side lines for months on end, meaning they had to call in Kate to help out the team.

Maybe she should have been there a little more. Maybe, when he was on the side line, she should have stayed with him to help him get through whatever demons he was facing. He was going through so much shit alone. Sure, the team did all say they were there, but things just always seemed to get in the way and poor Clint was always put on the back burner.

Dammit, she should have shown him a little more love.. Then maybe he wouldn't be in this dark place right now..

She shook her head of the thought. They had a new system of being professional during missions. They were way too easily compromised if they showed a little bit of unprofessionalism around eachother and with even the simple missions becoming pretty damn tricky now-a-days, that could be worse than disastrous.

After doing what should have been Clint's part of the interrogation set up, she went about her own part; making a temporary home for the pair.

She chose a room next to the one holding the Adam guy, mainly because she knew it held a few old oil drums, pretty vital in keeping heat in the freezing cold warehouse. Heat in their guests room really didn't matter!

From the supply duffel bag, she took out some lighter fluid and some fire wood, piling it nice and high in the drum before igniting it.

It lit the place up a little more, showing off the room in whole. She saw enough space beside the drum to put the sleeping bags next to each other. They'd need to keep close to keep every last big of heat in. There was a desk on the other side of the room, with an old wheely desk chair sitting by it. This must have been the old managers office.

As always, she set up a little supply corner. Their food and water for the next number of days being neatly lay out.

The place wasn't much, it really wasn't. It was the bare essentials for living. But it's what they always have, and it does them fine each and every time. May not be the five star hotel they were in the past few days, but hey, at least there's no cock roaches like some buildings they'd stay in!

She paused at that thought.

Hmmm..

As casually as anything, she went over and kicked a hole in the wall. She waited then.

Nothing! No infestation!

Clint would NOT be happy if she chose another place like that!

He nearly burned the other place down when he saw just one cock roach!

_Master assassin who's terrified by bugs.._

Natasha was hoping for a bit of a rest..

She really was..

But the thrashing sounds and shouts from the next room meant that her guest was awake and she had to play hostess for a while.

With a tired sigh she left the nice warm room and trekked into the next room. She gave the guy the sweetest smile she could when he laid terrified eyes on her.

He had been struggling a fair bit. She could see that the ropes had cut into the skin on his arms and he was already bleeding.

"Good evening.." She started as she approached, being cut off though before she could finish her usual introduction.

"Bitch, you better realease me in the next five seconds or I'll make your life a living hell!" He screamed at her, and she had to tut.

"Such language.. My friend Steve wouldn't approve of me being with you at all.." She said with a shake of her head, pulling up a chair so she could sit opposite her captive.

She causally leaned back in the chair, her arms folded across her chest as she regarded the man infront of her. Her and Barton would usually guess how long they'd last, but that stupid ass isn't here yet to take the bet!

"I'm agent Natasha Romanoff of SHIELD." She continued her usual introduction before he had the chance to speak again, and just those few words already had him falling still and going pale. "You've been taken because you possess information or skills that are vital to a mission currently being undertaken. One way or another, what we desire will be taken from you. You decide which way that will be."

The amount of times she's given that introduction has to be in the millions by now. It was a standard thing with interrogations. Fury was usually ok with skipping it, but Coulson always wanted the pair to be able to say to the council 'Hey, we gave the guy an option!' incase they took things a little too far. Which 99% of the time always happened.

The guy was silent, though she'd bet everything she had on the fact that a million and one curses were flying around his head.

She smiled a little at him, loving how even though it was absolutely freezing he was sweating already!

"Maybe next time you'll think twice about picking up a drink chick.. If there is a next time, that is.. Option one is.."

She was cut off once more. Not by her captured friend this time though, but by a much more familiar voice.

"Nat?"

She was going to kill him..

_Late and using a nick-name!? Not to mention he sounded drunk alright!_

"Excuse me for a moment. You think about which way you want the next few days to go while I'm out." She said with a soft smile, patting the guy's knee gently before leaving the room.

She knew she had her murder face on, because she was seriously contemplating killing Barton on the spot!

She was about to start a rant, about to go on the usual spiel about why timing is important on missions and how he can't just miss a rendezvous by nearly an hour.

All fight left her though when she saw the state her partner was in.

Standing by the door of the warehouse was a fairly beat up Clint Barton.

His weapons were pretty much discarded next to him, he was slumped over and holding onto his left shoulder, he looked just about ready to collapse. A familiar sight, he always got banged up because he just went all out to do what needed to be done. But it doesn't mean that it still didn't take her by surprise and kill her heart a little each and every time.

It wasn't a long distance between them, so they met in the middle quick enough.

"Sorry.. Got tied up.." He said with a shy smile once they met halfway, not drunk. Definitely not drunk. That slur is a bad concussion slur. Since they were closer she could see just how bad the archer was. He was holding his shoulder to try stop a blood flow, with little to no success. Bullet wound, definitely. His eyes were glazed and couldn't focus on one thing, further solidifying her guess at concussion. His left eye was squinted a little, nearly closed, and on closer inspection she noticed a painful burn mark on the temple there that would cause that result.

Damn.. She shouldn't have left him alone with three guys..

Her eyes went a little wide when his legs gave way, managing to catch him with her hands on his chest before he could completely fall to the ground.

"Got ya Hawk.." She said softly as she caught him, holding him until she felt he had a bit of strength regained to support himself. He still seemed way too weak, and there was so much blood on him.. How much was his, she needed to figure out. "Blood loss?"

"Not a clue.. A good bit, not enough to need more pumped in.." He replied quietly, letting her support him by pulling his good arm around her shoulders. He leaned into the support as they made their way to the room she had their little base set up in.

Add freezing to the touch onto the list of things wrong with him right now. She needed to warm him up or he'd go into shock..

She frowned at the shakyness of his sigh when she helped him sit against a wall, the one closest to the oil drum so he'd warm up. There was a proper thermal blanket in the first aid kit, she'd put that over him when she got it.

Their visitor had started giving out again, and she was seriously contemplating killing him just so she could focus on the man infront of her with undivided attention.

He wouldn't open his eyes now, though she didn't ask him to. She just kept her hand on his arm for a moment to make sure he wouldn't fall over and worsen his injuries. She couldn't have him lying down, not with a concussion.

"First aid is in the car. Stay awake Hawk, and I'll be right back." She had to force her voice to be stern, commanding, in order to break through whatever haze he was in right now.

She didn't get a response, but she couldn't wait much longer. He needed some treatment. So she got up and ran out to the Jeep, rooting through it for the kits she knew were in the glove box.

SHIELD issue, so they'd have pretty much everything!

She made sure to grab the bottle of vodka from the trunk aswell, because if it was a bullet wound she had a feeling Clint would need a little liquid courage and she needed something to use as a sterilizer.

"Alright Clint, gotta tell me what happened." She said calmly when she walked back in the room, going to grab a torch from her duffel bag first and foremost so she could see what she was doing to her partner.

No response. This made her panic a little bit.

"Barton?" She called a little louder, frowning with worry now as she went to take a knee infront of him.

Not even a flinch.

_Dammit Barton, I swear I'll kill you if this is the little thing that killed you.._

She dropped the first aid kit bag and the bottle by her side and quickly felt around his neck for a pulse.

_It's there.. Thank god.._

Romanoff let out a little sigh of relief, not knowing what she'd do if he did slip away from her, here of all places!

She needed him awake though, otherwise she wouldn't know what to treat. She opened the first aid bag and took out a syringe, knowing it contained a shot of pure adrenaline in it. They were the only syringes SHIELD ever had in the bags, just something to get an agent to a pick up point without dying.

She injected it into his leg, one of the best places to put the liquid. In the neck or arm would send it to the heart too quickly and would probably cause cardiac arrest. Leg diluted it in the blood stream a little more before it hit the heart.

She pulled out the thermal blanket and wrapped it around his legs and torso while she waited for the drug to do it's job, busying herself with sterilising some tweezers and a little knife with the vodka then to try get the bullet out.

A groan drew her attention away from the tools and back to her partner. Her hand instinctively went to run through his hair to try sooth him.

"Coming back to me, little hawk?" She asked softly, trying to sound as calm as possible so he wouldn't panic. "Come on, I need your help here."

"Nothing new there.." He mumbled to her, and she gave a slight laugh. At least he was talking, that was something.

"You have a bullet wound, maybe a concussion, and a bad burn. You remember how?" She asked as she gently pulled the eyelids of one of his eyes apart, shining the torch in it then to test his pupils.

Damn.. Bad concussion.. Light after light would get next to no reaction.

"I.. I don't know.." He stuttered after a moment of thinking, and she just nodded. Both his eyes were open a fraction, but that was enough for her. "Hydra.."

"Well that's right." She smiled with a nod, patting his cheek gently as she put the torch down."You know where you are?"

_Gotta keep him talking, gotta keep him awake for a few, make sure he doesn't get sick, make sure I don't lose him.._

Another pause met her, and she took that chance to gently poke around the entry wound the bullet made. She should be able to take it out no problem.

"Chicago.."

"Good man." She smiled genuinely this time, because his head wasn't as bad as she first thought it to be if he knew where he was so easily. "Need some vodka?"

"Please." He chuckled softly, she knew he'd know exactly why she asked!

She handed him the bottle and waited as he took a sip, then another, then a gulp. Nearly a quarter a bottle later, he nodded his head, so she grabbed the knife she sterilised.

"Just try keep talking to me Hawk, ok?" She said softly, noticing how tightly he gripped the bottle and how much his face contorted when she cut along the hole to make a bigger wound. At least that let her know the nerves were fine!

"Tricky when you're torturing me.." He grumbled through gritted teeth, and she couldn't hold back the smirk that crept onto her face.

"Quit the drinking and maybe the vodka will be more effective.. Seem to used to it there.." She said quietly, focusing on his arm.

"Maybe I should quit seeing you a while then.. Seem to used to your mean comments.." He replied quietly, but she knew what he was getting at.

This was the most they've seen eachother in a while.

That was the closest he'd ever get to saying 'I actually miss you Natasha.' and she knew it.

"Fucking ow!" He yelled when she poked the cut she made, and she gave a slight laugh. The baby..

There was alot of blood though, and she had no way to stop it right now. So she just grabbed the tweezers to look for the bullet.

"Please.. You know this it nothing. Be nice and I might let you break little Adams fingers later." She smiled a little sadly when her words were met with a whimper and another swig of vodka. Tweezers rooting around a wound in muscle for a tiny little bullet was not a pleasant feeling!

He was sitting still though. He always complained a fuck tonne when she'd patch him up in the field, but most times he just sat like a rock.

She just had to keep apologising each time he made a sound, each whimper or little shout would break her heart that little bit more. She seriously hated seeing him pain.

She let out a sigh of relief when she finally found the little bullet, oh so carefully pulling it back out the path it travelled in. He was panting hard by the end of it, and she was terrified he was about to pass out when she started stitching him up.

"Still with me?" She asked calmly, focusing on stitching him up though her gaze shifting to his face evry now and then. He really had her worried..

"Wish I wasn't.." He replied in a whisper, his voice getting a lot weaker now. She knew he just wanted to sleep, and since his head seemed alright enough, she couldn't really think of a reason why not.

"Just stay with me a little longer. Then you can sleep all you like." Not alot of stitches were needed, four little ones later and she was cleaning the wound and wrapping it up.

The burn was easy to take care of. She just ripped open a sachet of burn cream and rubbed it in, putting a dressing over that aswell then.

She realised he hadn't answered her and frowned. When she looked him over, she noticed that he had slumped a little more, his head only being held up by her hand under his chin and his arms limp by his side. The idiot, he went and passed out on her..

Damn, she was hoping to get him out of the ruined clothes before he did that.

"Damn it Clint.." She whispered with a shake of her head, moving his pillow over closer to his position.

She carefully lay her partner down on his back, wishing more than anything she could give him a soft mattress to relax on instead of a concrete floor.

Once she had his bad arm lay across his chest, she put the thermal blanket and the sleeping bag over his body to keep as much heat in as possible.

Up until that point, she was calm. She needed to be so he wouldn't panic at the state he was in.

Now though? Well, taking a look at all the blood around the room and on her hands. Taking a look at her partners pale face as he lay motionless. It all became too much.

The asshole in the next room was responsible for this.

It was his comrades, his team, his organisation that just kept managing to hurt her partner.

And she'd be damned if she'd let it go without revenge!

Once she made sure her little Hawk was fine, she barged out of the room with new found determination.

When Natasha entered the room with their captive, she saw him still struggling to get free. Without a word, she went over and kicked the chair, sending the man flying down onto his back with a yell.

This wasn't Natasha Romanoff, SHIELD agent anymore.

This was Black Widow he was dealing with. A Black Widow pissed off about her Hawk being laid up once more.

He wasn't going to enjoy this..

In an instant, she was over him, foot crushing his throat dangerously.

"Listen here, you scum.." She growled, not even feeling the usual sense of pride she would from the fear his eyes currently held. It wasn't enough. "You and your friends managed to hurt the best agent that SHIELD has. You managed to draw his blood, managed to make him scream in pain. So your choice of easy or hard way has been revoked. Instead, I'm going to inflict a million times the amount of pain you just inflicted on my partner. And I'm going to enjoy every second of it.."

Sometimes, she got carried away.

Sometimes, a subject would get to her too much and she'd get a little trigger happy with the knives or electro shocks.

Those times, Clint would be there to calm her down. Be there to be the voice of reasoning.

This time though, Clint was lying unconscious in another room.

So, this time, as she got ontop of the man and threw a flurry of punches, there was nothing holding her back.

This time, when she got the knife and stabbed the guy right where Clint was shot, there was no voice calming her down. There were just pain filled screams egging her on.

This time, when she slit and cut, when she burned, when she spent over an hour and half torturing this guy wihtout asking for any information, there was no voice telling her that everything is ok and to stick to the plan.

There was no soothing voice.

That soothing voice was broken in the next room, she had to stitch that soothing voice back together for what was one time too many.

As she sat against the wall an hour and a half after leaving Clint, watching the motionless body of the Hydra agent infront of her, she realised that Clint Barton didn't even have to be conscious to compromise her.

He was in her head, and there was no way to shake that.

After a few minutes, she was calm again. She got out all of her rage, all of her anger. The guy sat, still alive, battered and bruised and bleeding from nearly everywhere, staining his once pristine suit a nice red colour. It wasn't enough, but she needed him alive for information and Clint wouldn't be happy if he couldn't take a crack at him.

With a slight sigh, she stood, and went out to the bathroom. She had so much blood on her hands, both her partners and the guy she just let out all her frustrations on. She needed to scrub them clean.

The task took a while. The blood came off easy, don't misunderstand, but the feeling of Clint's blood just wouldn't leave her and she had to keep scrubbing.

She was exhausted by the end of it all. It had been an emotional few hours that left her drained.

So when she got back to their room, she pulled her sleeping bag and pillow over to beside where her partner lay sleeping. The exact same as how she left him over two hours ago.

With a tired sigh, she climbed into her sleeping bag, laying on her side so she could watch the peaceful face of her partner.

Her little Hawk.

Her love..

She shook her head of the thought with slightly wide eyes. How long has it been since she even thought of him like that!?

Dammit, she promised herself she wouldn't get into this situation with him again!

Right now, she didn't mind.

She let a hand rest protectively on his chest and closed her eyes, feeling comfort in the rise and fall of his body as he took steady breaths.

_My love.._

She sighed at the thought, finding on the second round that it didn't confuse her as much. He was always hers. She was always his. Even through relationships on both sides, kids on his side, they always belonged to eachother.

That thought sent her to sleep with a smile, though she knew she'd be in trouble with these feelings.

_What on earth are you doing to me Barton..? _


	6. Chapter 6

ONWARD, VALIANT STEED!

48 HOURS NO SLEEP! I HAVE A CHEST INFECTION AND IT WON'T LET ME SLEEP! BUT THAT MEANS MORE WRITING!

MY LOVELY AMAZING REVIEWERS WHO I WILL POST COOKIES OR PUPPIES TO ONE DAY!

BlackHawk's Child; Man, I've missed you pal! Glad you're liking it!

Niom Lamboise; My dear, I'm glad you liked the last chapter! I love this story so I hope you do too!

ENJOY FOLKS!

DISCLAIMER!; THIS WENCH DOST NOT OWN ANYTHING THAT INVOLVES MARVEL! SHE DOST JUSTITH PLAYITH WITH THINE CHARACTERS A LITTLE!

* * *

Screaming.

It took his mind a while to place the sound he was hearing, but it was someone screaming, yelling for something to stop before it went quiet. Then, a moment would pass, and it would start again.

That continued on for a while. He knew he was conscious, but he just couldn't will his eyes open just yet.

He hadn't a clue where he was, why someone was screaming, or why every part of his body was screaming at him in pain.

What was the last thing he remembered..?

Worried eyes. Natasha's eyes. He'd know them anywhere.

What had her worried though? The fog in his mind wouldn't clear.

He let out a little yelp when he tried move his arm up to rub his cheek, the familiar tug of stitches meeting his efforts.

_Right, right! Bullet! Hydra guys! Damn Clint, you're an idiot sometimes.._

He willed his eyes opened and noticed that there wasn't much light at all in the place they were in. Warehouse. He remembered that much, they were to meet here after he took out the stragglers.

He had to take another minute to clear his vision, something had his head all muddled up and foggy.

"Ok.. One, two.." A grunt replaced the number three as he tried to sit himself up, his bad arm held protectively against his chest while he tried.

He had such a dry throat, so that told him he's been out for a while! Everywhere hurt, but that was more than likely because he had been lying on a rock hard floor rather than a nice comfortable bed. The ones that stuck out were his head and his arm though. He had a bandage on both, but he couldn't remember patching himself up.

He smiled a little when he remembered that's where the worried eyes came from. Once again, Natasha had to patch him up and save his ass. He owed her yet another one!

Another scream tore through the place, and his head whipped to the door of the room they were in to see if he could place where it was coming from. No doubt that's where she was.

With a bit too much effort, he stood up, allowing himself to lean against the wall for a moment to regain some of his strength. Out for a fair old while then! This was a hunger faint, a dehydrated faint.

Once he had his balance, he wandered out of the room and followed the screaming and shouts, luckily only to the next room so he didn't have to travel too far.

Natasha was sitting in a chair in front of a fairly beat up asshole. She was using a lighter to heat up the end of a metal prod, one of the most useful torture methods they found. Constantly burning and re-burning the skin in a sensitive area until they crack. She used ribs, real sensitive there. He always suggested the lower region, but she never let him! That would get a guy squealing uncle in no time!

He looked like hell. Bloody, bruised, swollen face. Looked like Nat was taking no shit while he was asleep!

"Having fun without me?" He asked with a slight grin as he walked into the room, going to the table where some water was when he realised just how dry his mouth and throat were.

Natasha turned in her chair and smiled at him, casually dropping the metal prod onto the guys lap to let it burn through to his skin. She got up then and approached him, the smile she had on gave him one of his own.

"About time, sleeping beauty." She said softly, placing her hand on his forehead when she got close enough. Guess he had a fever while he was out! "40 hours of sleep and you still look like an ugly step sister.. Might have to knock you out again."

"Oh please.." He laughed, rolling his eyes at her comment before taking another swig of water. He was leaning against the table with her standing in front of him. He just needed the support of something. "I constantly look fabulous, no need to be so jealous!"

"I-is this happening?" He heard a weak voice say, and he looked over Natasha's shoulders with a confused pout.

"What's that, pal?" He asked softly, moving away from Natasha to go grab her seat, turning it the opposite way so he'd sit backwards on it, his arms crossing over on the back support. The guy she was dealing with for the past nearly two days just stared at Clint with shocked eyes.

"You two.." He croaked out, and Clint just waited for him to continue. "Deadly assassins, best in the business.. Making jokes while torturing someone..?"

Clint grinned a little and looked back at Romanoff, who was now leaning against the table he was just at and watching the pair with a smirk.

"Have you been mean to him, Widow? He's our guest, get him a drink!" He said through a tut, and she laughed in response.

"Well he was mean by not giving me information." She soon replied, and he turned back to pout at the man.

"Well, you brought this on yourself then man.." He sighed, pushing the chair back with his footso the guy fell onto his back. Clint stood then and looked over at their little captive, his eyes were screwed shut as pain no doubt raced trough his body. "We could be joking around with you over some beers right now if you just played nice.. Oh well.."

He turned and walked back over to Natasha, catching an apple she threw at him with his good arm.

"Never miss a beat, huh?" She commented with a grin, and he just shrugged with a shy smile.

"Way too good at my job to!"

She rolled her eyes and moved away from the table, heading out the door. He followed after her, the two of them going back to their little room.

"Get anything out of him?" Clint asked as he sat into a chair with a soft sigh, he really needed to work out his body.

"Not a thing." She replied with a shake of her head, busying herself with cleaning up where Clint was just sleeping.

He hummed a little in thought and took a bite of the apple, his body already loving him a little more for giving it some food and water.

"My guy let it slip that Anderson was around here."

"Really?" She asked with an impressed face, he couldn't help but wink at her.

"You have your ways of getting information, I have mine." He smirked, knowing from the grin that spread across her face he chose the wrong words entirely.

"You're hurt, I won't tease you for that." She eventually laughed, which usually means she had so many horrible words floating around that evil mind of hers that she couldn't choose just one to use!

"Should get hurt more often then." He said through a grin, finishing up his apple and bottle and water before standing once more.

"I think you get hurt enough, bird brain." She sighed, and he gave her a soft smile.

"Sorry for worrying you.." He said softly, but she waved off his words with a little smile of her own before throwing more wood onto the dying fire.

"If I don't worry about your sorry ass, no one will."

"Got a point there!" He laughed, going over to his duffel bag as he spoke to find some clothes. He was still in his mission gear and he wanted something more comfortable. "Want me to head out scouting, ma'am?"

"Might be our best chance." She sighed after a while, taking long enough for Clint to have already changed into a shirt and jeans. He guessed she was trying to figure out if there was a way to keep him inside. "Not too long, ok? You still need some rest."

"Relax." He laughed, giving her cheek a soft kiss before heading towards the door. "I'll check in every hour."

He heard a faint 'Be safe.' as he left the room, leaving the warehouse entirely then after grabbing his trusty bow and arrows.

Sure, he had to scout. But he more so needed some air to clear his head, some space to work out his muscles.

And maybe a drink or two.

* * *

"Like I just need a location, man.." Clint sighed, the words leaving his mouth for the billionth time already.

Hydra agents weren't too difficult to find, it would seem. He just followed some guy in black gear and a comms link in his ear and he came across an apartment with five of them in it!

This was after three hours of searching though, it wasn't like he just stepped outside the warehouse door and found this guy. God no, he'd never be that lucky!

It was down by the main street, the guy wasn't exactly hiding in a crowd or being safe. He was just wandering around doing some shopping. Clint actually felt bad about ruining their night, looked like they were going to be making some pizza!

He followed the guy, up the apartment block, threw a flash-bang into the door, knocked out four of them with some poison tipped arrows, and disabled another with an elctro-arrow.

Hawkeye bitches, don't underestimate him just because he's injured!

Currently, he was just sitting on the kid he followed. Sitting right on the chest with his legs sprawled out in front of him and his arms folded across his own as he watched the kid beneath him. He'll call him Fredward!

"One of your friends already let me know he was in the city. My partner is working on another for all the details. But I just need a location." He was getting bored of this, and was so very tempted just to kill Fredward and leave it at that! But, he had to get this guy so he could go home and relax with some pizza of his own, maybe fix his tv so he can watch some, fix the heating too actually since it's coming into bad winter weather.

_Mission, Barton!_

"I swear, I don't know where he is!" Fredward yelled again, his breath coming out short since he had a pretty heavy fully grown Clint Barton ontop of him. Barton could normally tell when people were lying, and it didn't sound like this kid was, but he just had to be sure.

"You able to contact him?" The archer then asked, softening his tone a little. He didn't want to scare the guy into a heart attack! Not until he could get some answers!

"We're not in his division." He replied with a quick shake of his head, panic coming back to his eyes since Clint took an arrow from his quiver and was spinning it between his hands.

"So, if I let you guys live, you won't be able to go telling on me? Cause that would be awkward." He hummed, looking to the kids' face then with a slight pout as he rest the tip of the arrow over his heart. "And if we find him, and learn that our surprise is blown, I'll be coming after you, y'know?"

"I.. I promise!" He quickly stuttered out, and Barton grinned. "I dunno who the guy even is! Not my division!"

"Good lad! I know someone back home around your age! I'll tell her to give you a call, quit Hydra, settle down, get her out of my hair!" He cheered, patting Fredward's cheek gently before standing up.

The kid began sitting up himself, but Clint couldn't risk him following, so he aimed up a poison tipped arrow in his bow and smiled a little sadly at him.

"Sorry sport, protocol. Can't keep anyone conscious." He shrugged, and he could see the kids shoulders sag. "It'll wear off in about five hours, don't worry! Hopefully won't remember too much. The place looks like it was just a mugging anyway, so I'm sure the lot of you will figure it out."

He let the arrow fly and hit the kids arm before he could reply, and he instantly fell back down unconscious. He hummed at his handy work and went around collecting the arrows he had used, grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl on the little table, then was gone as if he was never there.

He really shouldn't be out with his bow and arrows so freely on show, he knew that, so he paused in the lobby of the apartment block after climbing down a billion flights of stairs (how he climbed up them so easily will forever be a mystery) and took them and his jacket off. With the apple held in his mouth, he secured the bow and quiver on his back once again then put his jacket on to conceal them from the world.

Not comfortable, but it'd do!

Walking outside, he took his phone out of his pocket. He dialled the familiar number and held it to his ear as he munched away on his apple.

"You're late." Came the voice on the other end, not annoyed, more like joking, like she knew it would happen. "What happened to checking in every hour?"

"Was sitting on a kid, couldn't call!" He defended with a smile, still munching away as he passed by the night goers of Chicago. He had left at about 5:30, so that meant it was close to 9pm.. Oh, he was going back to the girls in that bar!

"Hey, whatever you're into man!" She laughed, and he growled at her teasing. "Just next time wait until after the mission to get your bit on the side, right?"

"Funny." He remarked dryly, shaking his head a little at her sense of humour. "I got no leads. Agents I found weren't in Anderson's division or some shit like that."

"Divisions huh?" She hummed, it was news to them after all. No one ever really knew the structure of the Hydra organisation. Knowing that only people in each others division could contact each other was some big news. "So, we might be barking up the wrong tree with this one?"

"Don't think so." He mumbled through a full mouth, looking up and down the road before crossing over. Safety first kids! "Those three in the theatre knew where he was. And were working with our little guest. So all them work with Anderson."

"Smart boy." She said, and he could hear the smile in her voice.

"Well, one of us has to be the brains of this team!" He grinned, throwing the apple core into a trash can as he passed by it.

"That's just because I'm the strength." Dammit, he walked himself into that one.. "You staying out so?"

"Gonna see how much more info I can dig up." He nodded, pausing in the middle of the side walk incase she told him to come back.

"Just remember to check in, Hawk." Came the soft reply, and he gave a slight smile. She knew what he was up to. "I'm gonna get some sleep before his wake up call, ok?"

"Sleep well, Tash.." He said softly, hanging up the phone then.

He got so damn lucky to have her as a partner.. Anyone else wouldn't let him do this sort of stuff while on a mission. Hell, his other partners through the years were pretty much kill joys!

He glanced up the street and smiled a little more when he saw the neon lights of the karaoke bar he was in the other night, happily heading up the road to have a bit of a night for himself!

He'd bring Tash out one night, just for now though, it was him and whoever was willing to buy him some drinks!

* * *

"So we get to this place, minus about twenty billion degrees, and I'm in these mission clothes that are just a vest and some combats.. Sure I had this long coat thing, but Stark made it leather, so it was still freezing!"

College kids man..

College fucking kids..

You go to a group of them, just talk about anything, and they'd be buying you rounds all night!

This group was no different! Though, they kind of sort of were, he was actually only in the place and some of the guys recognised him. It freaked him for a moment, and he was about to high tail it out of there, but fuck it man! If Hydra were in here, then so be it! Let them spot him out of mission! He didn't know why they'd be at some karaoke place, and if they were, then maybe they aren't the bad guys he thinks they are!

So these guys have been filling the archer with drinks all night in exchange for Hawkeye stories.

They were probably getting a good laugh out of him, not because he was funny or anything, but because he was so horribly piss drunk that he just kept jumping from story to story. They were in just as bad shape so it probably didn't matter!

"So, we're fighting our way past hundreds of them, in this fucking Jeep, and Nat topples the thing right over! We go flying over this embankment and man did that hurt!"

"So you guys just, like, totally sat it out right?" One of the guys said, he was sitting opposite Clint in the little corner booth, his arm was constantly around this girl and the two just kept asking for stories. The other five or six around him just happily listened!

He could get used to this.. It was like when he would tell Kate about missions. It just helped him go on little rambles,made him remember the good ones to fight away the bad ones.

_Damn, so that's why the kid always asks about missions.. Not to hear the stories, but to lighten the mood.._

"Like hell we did!" He laughed, taking the last swig of his beer before going onto another that someone set infront of him.

"But those guys have super powers and super armour, and one's a Hulk! They could've handled it!" One of the other kids said, hoodie guy, and Clint pouted.

"Well, thanks man!" He looked scared that he offended the archer, but Barton soon smiled to let him know it was fine. "They're a time bomb! Without me and Nat, they'd fall apart!"

"Yeah Eric!" The girl yelled with a frown, hitting the kids arm for his stupid comment. He liked this girl more and more each story!

"So we're shooting and blasting and taking fire aswell. So I line a shot up on a battlement.." He was using beer mats and empty glasses as little figures in his story. "Took my shot, explosive arrow, hid behind the tree again, and waited for the boom.."

"Bet it took it out no bother!" One guy grinned, he was beside Clint, he heard him being called Ben a few times.

Clint grinned sheepishly and shook his head, and the kids grew silent. "Took aim again, thinking it was a dud arrow or something. And it missed again!"

"You missed..?" Someone asked, and he shook his head quickly.

"More like I was blocked! So I aimed one more time, and something just knocked me right on my ass! Complete blur, couldn't see it!"

Some more had gathered around, he realised when he shifted his stool back and hit someone by mistake. That was fine! He liked story time!

"What was it..?" Someone asked behind him, but he was hoping to leave it there.

He never liked thinking about any of his encounters with Pietro..

As far as he could recall, each time he had a run in with the kid, he was trying threatening to kill him one way or another. Then he went and..

He shook his head a little and leaned on the table, his arms folded as he watched a beer mat spin in his hand.

"We call them enhanced, our term for people with super powers we haven't yet seen.. This kid could run at the speed of sound, and he was only learning his powers so he probably would've been faster given time.. He was just a blur."

They probably knew they hit a nerve, because they were all quiet now. Clint just shook his head a little to shake off the sad mood and swallowed down half his pint, sitting up straight then to smile at them.

"Couldn't get a clean shot on the guy, and when I was trying, the fucking battlement shot me right in the side." He lifted his jacket and shirt a bit to show the nice big scar he received that day. It may have been fixed by some fancy healing machine, but it scarred weird man! Completely different colour to the rest of him.

The night wore on, and he stayed with those guys, telling crappy stories, like how he saved Nat instead of killing her, how he was about to send an arrow through Thor's skull the first time he came to earth. Then it just got to the crappy pranks they'd play on each other, or what it was like living with the Avengers.

It was just nice for him, to feel like people actually cared about him. Even Natasha got a little more recognition than he did since she was on tv mouthing off on Capital Hill after SHIELD fell.

He wasn't jealous, or petty. It was just nice to be appreciated for saving the world his whole working life. Even if that's just by some fan boy college kids asking him for stories and photos.

It was probably one of the best nights out he's had in a long time.

11pm, so many pints, so very many shots, and they convinced him to have a go at the karaoke.

So he did! And once they got him on it, once they found the country songs, they couldn't get him off of it!

He paused mid way through his usual Country Roads when he noticed a familiar face walk through the door, and he couldn't help but grin.

She didn't look mad when she saw him, didn't look annoyed, she just smiled at him and nodded to the bar, letting him know she'd be over there in their own silent way.

"Guys!" He cheered into the microphone, a little giddy now since she decided to join him. "Look! It's my friend Natasha! Natasha, my friend! I told y'all she'd come!"

The group he was with looked around to where he pointed and, indeed, a confused looking Natasha was sitting on a bar stool with a vodka infront of her.

"To my best friend Natasha!" He grinned, holding up the pint in his hand as a toast. "The best friend I could EVER have! Even when I'm a brainwashed idiot, or shot through with bullets! Through everything, she has my back, and I love her for it!"

He grinned when the place cheered, but he was just focused on her smiling face. He looked to her hands when she signed something; 'You're drunk, you idiot.'

He smirked a little and hopped down from the little platform they had as a stage, wobbling his way through the crowd and over to her.

"Thanks for letting me out, Tash.." He smiled when he got over to her, placing his pint on the bar since he was finished.

"Don't mention it, big guy." She smiled back, and it was that smile that he's seen before, it was the 'I'm going to use this as blackmail so many times!' smile.

He didn't think of his next actions, didn't care about who was looking, he couldn't resist any longer. He had been good around her for so long, been normal, he just couldn't any more. So he just leaned down to her level and gave her lips the softest of kisses. It only lasted a second, then he was away again, ordering them a round of drinks.

"But, honey, you haven't seen drunk yet!"

* * *

The place was spinning. That's all he knew.

He didn't know what was spinning it, or why it was spinning, but he was just going round and round!

He was naked. No, he was in his boxers, close to naked. Not under his sleeping bag, but he could feel it under him aswell as a pillow.

How did he get back to the warehouse?

The drink was still there, so he pulled his eyes open to see the fire still lighting away.

What could he remember..?

_Tash came to the bar.._

Damn, she'd have left him if he was a drunk idiot..

He poked his head up to view the room a little more, lying on his stomach though so it was a little difficult to. She wasn't beside him on her sleeping bag..

"Natasha..?" He called softly, coming out as a broken word though, his voice pretty much gone. He was obviously singing all night.. Or shouting, both possible!

"Shh.. I'm here, you drunk idiot.." He heard the quiet reply, and he looked over to see her sitting at the desk with a cup of tea. That wasn't important though, what's important is that she had a smile on her face so he obviously didn't end up doing something totally wrong! "You were only out for an hour Clint.. Go back to sleep.."

He gave her a little smile and rolled over to face away from her, nuzzling the pillow with a happy sigh then.

"Tash, I love you.." He said softly, curling up into himself to sleep.

Just as he drifted off, he could hear a quiet "Sweet dreams, Little Hawk..", and that was all he needed to lull him into the best sleep he'd had in months.

It was definitely the best night he'd had in such a long time.

And that was all down to the woman he currently shared a room with. The woman he loved.


	7. Chapter 7

Alright! Only 4 left written!

Will have to stop for a few soon enough to study a little, but hopefully not too long!

REVIEWERS!

BlackHawk's Child; Sorry to hear that! And here I am spamming you with chapters while you're busy! Sending my love and hope you're better soon!

Review and let me know!

No more letting me write at 3am though..

**DISCLAIMER!** DON'T OWN! NOTHING OF MARVEL IS MINE!

* * *

Oh that thumping.. Oh good lord how hard did he go last night..?

He groaned a little and rolled from his stomach onto his back, trying his best to tell whatever little bit of food he had in his stomach to stay the hell down there. It just kept threatening him though.

He frowned a little when he couldn't hear. Not only were his aids off, they were out of his ears entirely.

Panic stricken, his eyes shot open. Did he leave them in the bar? Lose them on the way home or something? Dammit, he didn't have a spare set! He wouldn't be able to finish the mission with no fucking hearing!

He looked around the little room for Natasha, but she was no where to be seen. He figured that meant she'd be in with Adam.

Pushing himself up off the floor, he managed to stand without throwing up, which was his first accomplishment of the day!

He didn't want to put clothes on, he didn't know why he was only in boxers, but it was some sort of decent clothing so he'd be fine!

Leaving the room, he went to the next one over, and sure enough Natasha was infront of their captive, just talking to him it would seem. It's an information day, minimal torture.

Adam's eyes scanned over to Clint for a moment, and that drew Natasha's attention to him as well. She gave him a smile and stood from her chair, signing as she walked over to him.

_'Morning idiot.'_ He raised an eyebrow as she led him out of the room and back to theirs. How did she know to sign to him instead of speak? Was she there when he lost his aids?

_'I'm fucked without them.'_ He quickly signed, and the shake of her shoulders told him she laughed. He took one of the seats close to the fire as she went to the table, returning then with his aids in her hands.

He raised an eyebrow once more, but she just rolled her eyes and placed them in his ears for him, turning them on then.

"I keep telling you to take them out at night." She said softly, going over to the desk again to turn the little kettle on. He loved her coffee more than anything when hungover! "They're gonna break sooner or later and Stark won't be happy."

"I just like being able to hear at night." He shrugged with a smile, feeling a little more at ease now that he could hear again. It always hit him when that happened, always made him recoil into himself a little, just a protective mode he had. "Otherwise you could easily kill me in my sleep."

"Oh please." She laughed, bringing over two cups of coffee, handing him his before sitting across from him with her own one. "If I wanted you dead, you would be already."

"Tried plenty of times." He chuckled, sipping the hot liquid like it was a life saver. Maybe because it was!

"I forgot how happy a drunk you are, Francis." She suddenly said with an amused smile, and he groaned a little.

What sort of stories was she going to bring back to Tony..?

"Think the last time you saw me blatantly drunk was my birthday with Tony and Steve.." He said with a slight smile, watching the coffee in his mug now. The rest of the times, he's tried his damnedest to hide it from her. Hide it from everyone. Hide it and they won't know it's there.

"Well that was a pretty long time ago." She said with a sad smile, and he just shrugged. "Though, you weren't dancing that night.."

_Oh no.._

"I swear to god Nat, if you tell the guys about this.." He started with a groan, but her laugh told him it was useless.

"Already sent the video's to Tony!" She laughed out, and he just felt like falling off the chair and never getting up again.

"He's going to have it on every big screen in New York by noon! How could you betray me!?" He pouted at her, but it just made her laugh that little bit harder.

"He promised me the only one going viral is the one of you singing Taylor Swift with some college kid!"

_Oh god.. Oh no, this is bad.._

"You're never coming drinking with me again.." He growled, shaking his head a little at her teasing. Though, he wished she was just teasing! She never lied about these things!

"Our friend been cracked at today?" He asked after a while, standing to bring his cup over to make another coffee. It was helping, he'd have another cup though before attempting food.

"Not yet. Wanna give it a go? He's been giving some things, all I need is a location." She replied from her chair, having grabbed the mission file during their silence to give it a read through.

He nodded slightly and grabbed his freshly made coffee, going over then to throw on some clothes and grab his hand gun from his duffel. "Bit of Russian Roulette Barton Style ok today?"

"You're an evil bastard when hungover, Clinton." She laughed, but her nodding let him know it was ok.

He gave a slight smirk and took a bow, leaving the room then to go see to their guest.

He held a smile as he walked into the room, he loved this game more than any of their other ones!

"Mornin' pal!" He cheered, but the guy didn't reply, his head was hung and he honestly looked dead. But they were smart, each time anyone they had captured passed out, an iv would be set up for a while to make sure they didn't die on their watch. "Heard you were being nice and tattling some things."

"Your partner's very persuasive.." He mumbled out, so at least Clint knew he was conscious.

"Oh, don't gotta tell me that!" He laughed, sitting infront of the kid as he took a sip of his coffee. "You think your injuries are bad? Should've seen me the first time we met. Man, I'm telling you, let a girl live and she'll try kill you in a nanosecond!"

Natasha had a different method than he did. It's what made them work well as a team.

She broke their spirits, broke their bodies, brought them to the brink of death and made it so they could see no way out.

Clint was taught to get them to trust you, get their tongue loose, get them talking and building some sort of relationship. Then use the tactics of any means necessary to get the information.

So, when she went first, she'd break them down, get all she could, have them thinking there's no way out and no escape. Then he'd come in as a friend, as someone who offers them an out, just for the last bit of information.

Just one more way they're perfect with each other!

"But, I hear you're not giving her the one bit of information we really need.." He said with a sad pout, resting back in the chair with his coffee on his knee, the gun visible now in his other hand. "We need a location, man."

"We all need something.." He replied lowly, and Barton noticed how his eyes seemed to harden when he noticed the location. They were pretty much dead up until then. "But I can't give you the location. He'd kill me."

"You're dead either way, pal." Clint sighed, taking a last gulp from his coffee so he could place it on the floor. "But, instead of death, Nat and I can get you a nice SHIELD issued prison cell if you just give us a location."

The guy just smirked and kept his mouth shut, which annoyed Clint. He thought it would be easier than this, what had the guy to loose like?

"Alright man, hard ball it is then." He clicked the barrel of the gun open, a revolver type otherwise Russian Roulette would never work! He showed the guy six bullets inside the revolver. "I'm giving you five chances. Might work, might make it till then, might not. I don't know."

The guys eyes were confused now, and Clint had to smirk.

He never kept all six in. He always took one bullet out. It was the fear of what might happen that broke them, so he could never risk any bullets being in it incase they did go off.

So, he slyly took one out, leaving five bullets inside the gun.

"Ever hear of Russian Roulette?" Clint asked with a smile, and Adam's eyes grew a little wide. "I have my own version.. Not fatal, but it'll hurt.."

He closed the revolver and aimed at the wall, shooting five times. The kid flinched each time the gun went off, and Clint couldn't help but smirk at it.

He held the gun out for the kid to see then, spinning the revolver magazine around so the bullet he thinks is inside could be anywhere.

"So, I'll ask again.." He started, head tilting a little to the side to see if the kid would co-operate. "Location of Anderson."

"You're bluffing.." He stuttered after a moment, a cautious smirk coming across his face. "You need me, you wouldn't shoot.."

Never one to back down from a challenge, Clint placed the gun over the kids balls and pulled the trigger.

He could have sworn Adam just shit his pants! The kid jumped so high that the chair actually bounced backwards.

"Are you crazy!?" He screamed, and Clint just nodded.

"Only figuring that out now? Location."

"Just stop! Let's talk this through!"

Another trigger pull, another jump and scream.

"We tried talking. You didn't want to."

"Widow! Get your crazy partner out of here!"

Another trigger pull, that makes three, and the kid was near tears now.

"Location."

"Please! Look, I don't know the address!"

_Now we're getting somewhere.._

"In Chicago?" Clint asked with a blank face, his voice stern now.

"Y-yeah.."

"Around where?"

"I can't say!" He suddenly yelled, so Clint pulled two more times.

"That makes five man. Next one and it's bye bye to your balls."

"Ok, ok!" He screamed, tears flowing freely now. Clint had to stop himself smirking, Nat owed him $50. She always said this trick wouldn't get someone crying! "Oak Lawn! Some apartment block around there! He owns it! He turned the place into a research facility! Please, don't shoot!"

"Was that so hard?" Barton said with a proud smile, his voice as if he was praising one of his children for telling the truth.

He loved this part the most though.

Without another word, Clint pulled the trigger for what would be the sixth time.

Oh the scream! The kid jumped from fright so much that the chair leg ended up breaking and he fell flat on his back.

Barton had to stop himself from laughing as he stood from his chair, hovering over the kid before letting the last bullet fall from his hand and onto his chest.

"Like you said; it was a bluff. Like I'd kill you, kind of taken a liking to you!"

The guy stared at the bullet on his chest in disbelief, obviously only remembering to breathe when he saw it because he was panting now.

"Thanks for co-operating! I'll get Tash to call someone to take you to that cell!"

He left without another word then, heading back into the room where Natasha was.

She looked at him with a slight smirk when he entered.

"Did you have to scare him so bad?" She asked through an amused laughed, and he just grinned and shrugged as he refilled his gun.

"Got the information, didn't I?"

"Heard that alright." She laughed, and he noticed she already had the map out looking for where the kid said.

"Good, good.." He said with a soft sigh, lowering himself down onto the sleeping bag to rest a little while more. His head really wasn't happy with those gun shots and all that shouting. So he closed his eyes and lay his arm over them to block out every bit of light he could.

"You know, if you stopped drinking.."

"Romanoff." He cut her off with a warning tone, not wanting to have that kind of conversation right now.

"I'm just saying." She sighed, his eyes were closed but he could hear her moving over closer to him. "We're all pretty worried about this Clint."

"Don't have to be." He shrugged, moving his arm to look up at her. She was giving him those worried eyes, the ones he only sees when he's injured. But he wasn't injured, was he..? "I'm a big boy, can look after myself."

"Drinking yourself into a stupor each night isn't looking after yourself." She sighed once again, sitting down cross legged beside him. "Look, I know none of us were really there after the divorce.."

"Or during.." He said quietly, cutting her off once more. He closed his eyes again and replaced his arm, not wanting to look at her now.

"Or during.." She added, and he could hear the regret in her voice. "We should have been.. And we're here now."

"Too busy saving the world." He shrugged, knowing that was the reason why none of his friends could help him out. "Kind of comes before these things."

"Well, it shouldn't have." She simply said, and that caused him to look at her. He didn't realise she actually felt bad about leaving him completely alone that time. "You should have said.."

"I fucking tried.." He sighed, shaking his head a little before looking away from her. "When Laura kicked me out, you were the first person I went to Tash.."

"But I was.."

"I know, you were on a mission." He frowned, watching anything just so he wouldn't have to look at her. "Like Steve, Thor was on a whole other world, Tony was busy at some conference in Japan.. I tried all of you.."

"Clint.."

He shook his head to stop her, looking to her with new determination as he sat up to be level with her. He didn't want pity, and the pity seeping from her voice was just something he couldn't handle.

"So, I went to our old apartment. I found some drink." He continued, staring her in the eyes as he spoke. "It's the only thing that's helped me since then. It's the only thing that helps me now."

"We tried to get you to talk." She frowned, and she was right. They did. He remembered each of them sitting him down to try get the story from him, he remembered getting a call from the lawyer Stark hired for him saying he tried get Clint's case file from her, remembered Steve bringing him training and not so subtly bringing up the subject.

"You all asked when the problem was already there." He said quietly, looking away again. "I just can't tell you, Tash.. I can't tell any of you.."

"Why not?" She asked a little higher, he could tell she was getting annoyed and that just pissed him off a little bit. "We're a team Clint. And this is something pretty fucking major.."

"Because she blamed you guys." He said through clenched teeth, looking at her to see shock across her face. "She blamed you guys."

"Why?" She asked in a shocked whisper, causing him to sigh and rub his forehead. He didn't want to talk about this, but she wasn't backing down.

"Because I constantly got called away.. We have three kids, Nat.. But one week it would be you and Fury, then I'd get home and Steve would need a sniper for a mission, then I'd get home again for maybe an hour and Tony would need security decal or Banner would want some help with tracking and it all got too much.."

His words were spoken so quickly and so quietly that they probably blended together.

"When I missed Nate's first birthday because I was on that Chad assignment and it ran over time, she filed the papers.."

"Clint.."

"Don't." He said sternly, watching the ground now. He didn't want her pity, didn't deserve her pity. "It's my fault.. I wasn't a husband.."

"But she couldn't have expected you to be.. Not in the proper sense of the word." Her hand was on his shoulder now, and he felt her push it slightly so it would relax. He didn't realise he was holding them tight.

"You don't get it.." He whispered, and no response from her told him to go on. "When I was gone, I was an Avenger.. When I was home, I was a mess. I wasn't sleeping, wasn't eating. Wasn't doing any of the jobs I told her I would. I was short, snappy, I just couldn't handle being around her or the kids, not after Sokovia.."

"Maximoff's death hit you hard, huh..?" She said softly, and he had to curse her for being so good at getting him to talk.

"I was blaming myself.. Still do. The kid took those hits for me, died for me. I just couldn't do normal everyday things knowing that.."

"He knew what he was doing." She eventually said, and he figured she was just giving him a moment to calm down a little.

_That doesn't make what happened any easier to handle._

"She was right to divorce my sorry ass." He said through a rough sigh, falling back so he was lying down and staring at the roof. "Worrying while I'm gone, worrying while I'm home, not having a husband 9 months of the year, having an injured or worn out one the other three months, having to deal with three kids alone.. Who could live like that?"

"She did for the longest time Clint. People just change." She was up again, he didn't know where she moved to.

"How do you do that?" He asked after a moment of quiet, a slight smile crossing his lips. He felt a million tonnes lighter and he didn't even realise it.

"Master of interrogation.. Not all my methods involve torture." She laughed, and he had to smile a little bit more at it.

_Damn, she was good.._

"Thanks Tash.." He whispered, his eyes closing again.

He felt something be draped over him and he soon realised it was her sleeping bag. She ruffled his hair a little before moving away again.

"Get some rest little Hawk. I'll make up a plan and we can get this guy tonight, but I need you hangover free for that. You can be home in time for the kids weekend visit that way."

He could honestly cry. She really was the best partner anyone could possibly have.

He'd be completely and totally lost without Natasha Romanoff..

* * *

"So.. We're just running in.. And grabbing him..?" He asked slowly, buckling up his tact vest as they prepared to get this guy.

"Pretty much." She nodded, currently on the other side of the room already in her mission gear. She was just making sure all her weapons were in check.

He stared at her for a moment with a confused face, his mouth opening and closing a few times as he tried form some words for her plan.

"And that took you all night?" He eventually asked, and a bullet was thrown his way with a growl.

"Well it's better than you sleeping all night!" She pouted, and he found he couldn't argue with that! "It's a built up area, so we cant have a big fight going on. We gotta scale down, Adam says Anderson stays in the top right room of the building. We grab him, one person brings him to a waiting chopper, another runs the length of the building and places explosive so no one will be left. When they're clear, the one in the chopper blows the place to nothing. No evidence to link us to it. Just an unstable building finally falling."

He nodded in understanding, finding that it actually was a pretty sound plan. In, capture, out, boom. Simple!

"Two guesses who the idiot who runs down with the explosives is.." He sighed, knowing full well planting those temperamental little bombs is always left up to him.

"Well you're so good at it.." She smirked, strapping her weapons to different parts of her body before handing him the little pile of explosives.

Stark made, obviously. Tiny things, circular, size of about his hand. There were about thirty in this pile and they were no taller than the length of a mobile phone. Tiny, but powerful.

He packed them into his quiver for easy access later, like all the other times he's been tasked with this job, before putting his bow and quiver in their usual places on his back.

He made a mental check to make sure he had everything, then smiled at his partner and held his arm out in the direction of the door.

"After you, ma'am."

"Damn straight, bitch."

* * *

He didn't like trusting the helicopter flying to the newbies.. He really didn't..

But he was supposed to jump out and onto the roof top, so he could hardly fly it himself.

But he really wanted to!

He glanced over at Natasha who was shouting last minute commands to the newbie controlling the aircraft, just alot of stay close and watch for her, she'll radio him, have the cell ready for their prisoner, blah blah blah. He was lowering them down close enough to the building to not need a parachute, but far enough away to look like someone just trying to avoid a high wind.

He gave her a slight smile when she looked back at him, the usual pre-mission nerves knotting in his stomach. Once he got into it though, he was usually perfectly fine!

"Ladies first!" She shouted over the sound of the blades, and he just smirked at her.

"Well I am the most beautiful of the two of us!" He shouted back, giving her a wink before jumping from the side of the chopper.

While they were kind of close, it was still like a four story fall. So he tucked, rolled across the roof like he was taught to, but didn't jump right to his feet.

_Damn, your arm was NOT healed enough for that, Barton.._

He lay there for a moment to see if the shooting pain would leave him alone, and it was long enough for Natasha to run over and take a knee next to him, worry clear in her eyes.

He just shot her a little smile and sat up, rolling his shoulder out to test it. "Landed wrong.."

"You're an absolute disaster Barton.." She sighed, taking his good hand to help pull him up. "I want no bullet wounds this time, got it?"

"Twenty bucks says I can do it." He smirked, offering her his hand to shake and make it official.

"You're on." She smirked back before shaking his hand.

He gave her another wink then went to the edge of the roof, taking his bow and a corded arrow from his from quiver. He shot the arrow into the concrete edge of the rooftop before doing the same once again next to the first.

Natasha was already strapping the wire to her harness belt while he was putting his bow back on his back. He followed suit, making sure it was nice and secure at both ends so he wouldn't go falling ten stories. She'd never let him live that down!

"Follow me in, got it?" She said as they stepped up to the edge, and he nodded. "Have your bow at the ready to cover me in case he attacks, then your line.."

"Nat." He cut her off, looking to her with an amused smile. "Not the first time we've used this plan."

"Just have to be sure, bird brain." She laughed, testing the comms for what must have been the hundredth time since leaving the warehouse before then scaling down the building.

He followed after her, leaving a bit of a distance so they wouldn't hit into eachother. Just like he was told to do, and as he's done countless times before, he grabbed his bow and had an arrow necked as he scaled down the side of the building.

He stopped just above Natasha, waiting as she grabbed a flash bang form her belt. She glanced up at him and he nodded for her to go ahead, so she threw the device into the room. Before it could flash and bang, like the name suggests, he pressed the button on the handle of his bow to retract her wire up, clearing her of the window incase it managed to hurt her aswell.

When it settled down enough, she scaled back down and jumped through the window. He followed, landing on his feet by the window, the crunch of broken glass beneath his boots hitting his ears as he quickly raised his bow incase he needed to send the arrow flying.

There were a number of people in the place, all on the floor unconscious from the device.

He didn't care about most of them, he only cared about the one Natasha was currently dragging over to his position.

Tyler Anderson..

His jaw locked at the sight of him. This guy put him through so much hell that it couldn't even be described.

He felt sick just at the sight of him, the pain from those days under the influence of his little test drug coming rushing back.

"Hey, Barton!" He snapped back to the present when she shouted his name, and he looked to her face to see concern written all over it. He only realised then that he had broken into a sweat. "You told me you'd be fine Clint.."

"I am, I am.. Sorry.." He said with a shake of his head, un-clipping his harness after putting his bow and arrow back in place before going to strap it around Anderson. They had to get him out before a)he came to and shouted for back up and/or b) back up realised that was, in fact, an explosion they heard and rush in anyway.

"Ok, out you get Widow." He said sternly, back in mission mode now. She nodded and climbed out of the window as he grabbed his bow again, pressing the button on it to adjust her wire so it stayed taught. He didn't need her falling to her death right now!

Anderson though.. Well, maybe he'll forget to press the button..

Nah, he had plans for interrogating this bastard!

When Romanoff was in position just above the window frame, Barton heaved the older man up to the window sill and pressed the other button on the handle, so his wire would start retracting too.

**"Got him." **He heard over the comms, so he reeled both wires up at the same time to send the two back up to the roof.

He went alot slower up than they did coming down, so he leaned against the wall with an arrow poised and ready for anyone who might enter as he let them scale to the top.

**"We're up. You have ten minutes until we leave Barton."** He smiled at the challenging voice she held, grabbing the little explosives from the quiver and strapping them to his belt before heading for the door.

"Got the timer ready?" He called into the comms, hand on the door knob.

He could hear the helicopter above him and over the comms. Thank god she was at least safe!

**"Alright... Go!"** She said to him and he ran for it.

Missions got repetitive sometimes. Especially these easy ones. So they always made sure to have little games at the ready to make things more interesting.

He took the stairs two at a time, descending two floors before placing an explosive in both the south corner and north corner.

He had his bow in his hand, knowing there were more goons around the place than just those in the room on the top level. None showed their faces yet though.

**"Five minutes Barton."** Came the smug voice of his partner, and he cursed under his breath. He still had over half!

Halfway down though, he paused at the end of the stairs, eyes going wide at the sight that met him.

Easily twenty Hydra thugs all had their guns pointed at him, blocking the corridor on him. He gave a nervous chuckle.

"Hey there fellas.." He smiled, holding his arms up so they wouldn't shoot. "Nice night, huh?"

**"Barton?"** She was worried, she knew something was up when he got the weird nice voice on.

"I have a 20 on.. Well, 20, Romanoff." He said through the comms, trying to subtly change arrow heads with the controls on the bow as he fell to his knees, per the request of the very loud shouting middle man.

**"Alright, you have an added on three minutes then."**

He smirked at her reply, only she could do something like that after hearing he partner was outnumbers 20 to 1!

"Deal!" He grinned, in a flash he had an explosive arrow necked. Before they could react, it flew towards the Hydra agents and exploded, he used the cover to run back up the stairs.

"New plan! I'm heading back to the roof, there's enough explosives down to topple the building from the top down!" He shouted down the comms, running up the stairs as quick as he possibly could.

**"Sounds good!"** He heard after a moment, she must have been thinking if there was any better plan she could come up with.

He ducked when he heard a gun firing, they were catching up to him, so he fired another explosive arrow to make some more cover for himself.

"Five more floors." He said to her, his breath coming in quick bursts now. He hadn't run this much in a while!

**"Choppers here waiting." **She called back, and he could faintly hear her giving some commands to the newbie.

He paused when he was met with another issue.

_This looks bad.._

When he ran to the second last floor, he was faced with the same problem.

This time, there was only five of them, the ones the flash bang had disorientated in the room.

He could hear the others approaching aswell.

_Shit.._

"Tash. Blow the place." He called into the comms without even thinking, and he could hear her choke a little at the request.

**"Don't be so stupid you idiot!"** She shouted, but he was beaten. He was forced to fall to his knees with his hands behind his head. **"We can get you out! Give me a second and I'll be down to help!"**

"Dammit Natasha! That's a fucking order!" He yelled, not caring that the Hydra agents were about to fire at him for shouting. "Get the bird in the fucking air and blow the place! I'll be fine!"

There was silence for the longest time, and he was worried that she wouldn't do it.

He couldn't be taken captive.

He wouldn't survive another round with these guys.

He barely survived the last one.

**"Clint.. You meet me outside in ten minutes, ok?"** Her voice was soft now, he knew how difficult a position he put her in.

"Time me, Natasha.. I'll make it in seven."

He could hear the chopper rise over the comms, his only hope of escape leaving him.

Taking a deep breath, he shut his eyes, the agents realising what command he had given Natasha so they were running for safety.

They wouldn't make it. None of them would.

**"3.. 2..1."**

He fell to the ground and curled into a protective ball when she reached 1, eyes screwed shut as he heard the blasts of the explosives go off all around the building.

He thought about his kids, how they wouldn't get to see him again.

Thought about missing them grow up, about missing them learn to shoot a bow or run a trial course like their old man.

He thought about the other avengers, wondered how they'd survive without him holding their asses together.

Even about Kate, she never did get to hear the Budapest story.

Thought about Barney of all people! How he never managaed to see him again, never managed to say he loved him.

As the block started crumbling, and he could feel himself begin to fall, only one thought managed to calm him enough to accept all of this.

And that was of Natasha Romanoff holding him one more time.

He'd survive this, he had to, he had to hold her one more time!

Something hit his head and darkness took him into nothingness, but it didn't matter.

He had the image her smile in his head. That was enough.

It was always enough.


	8. Chapter 8

Still sick, so the mammy and the sisters have taken my books from me and won't let me study. 21 years old and I'm still being bossed around!

Final exams start on Tuesday..

OH WELL! MORE WRITING! I like this chapter, so it's fine!

REVIEWERS!

Niom Lamboise; Ah pal, you reviewed like ten minutes after I posted the last chapter so I didn't get a chance to reply in 7! Hope it was good enough for ya though, did think about jealous alright, but then I just really didn't want him with Laura cause I hated her in the comics so yeah! Enjoy this one! Hope this is updating quick enough too :P Because, trust me, my next stories will NOT be this quick :P

BlackHawk's Child; Well, wasn't planning on leaving it there, it had to be split in two cause it was long and I hate putting chapters that are over 5,000 up! So, yeah, sorry for cutting it at that point, was a little mean of me! :P

Enjoy and review please!

And thanks to everyone who favourited and followed! Didn't think this little silly idea would get such love!

Disclaimer; Own nothing to do with Marvel. Just, some day I will stop writing this and instead just point you legal people to my other stories to read it!

* * *

There was a voice, but he couldn't quite hear it porperly. It was muffled, quiet, but strong at the same time.

He shouldn't be hearing things. He was dead.

There were feelings too. Strong, horrendous pain. It just came on him all at once. His left leg could move, something was ontop of his right leg, pinning it in place.

_Shackles? No, that would be around the ankle.._

But he was taken by Hydra again, wasn't he? He was outnumbered so much, and he gave up to them. They wouldn't leave him not confined.

The voice was getting increasingly louder, it was bringing him out of the haze. But he wanted to stay in the haze, he really did. He just wanted to sleep, wanted to sink away from all this pain.

It was warm, way too warm. Humid air, made it difficult to breathe. Though some pain in his chest was doing that job aswell. Crushed rids, collapsed lung, he couldn't tell right now.

"..Tony and Natasha are clearing.." Clear words finally came from the voice before they went mumbling again, his concentration only staying long enough to register those.

_Tony and Natasha.._

He knew those names. Where did he know those names from? The voice was familiar too, but he couldn't place it to anyone in his mind.

_Concussed.. Start from the start.._

It was a trick he learned one of the first times he got a bad head injury, start with the small things and the big things will come back too.

_Clinton Francis Barton. Clint. Archer. Hawkeye. Circus act. No, SHIELD agent now.. No, Avenger now.._

_Avengers.._

_That's a group.. Natalia Romanova. Natasha Romanoff. Nat. Black Widow. All around bad ass. Top of hit list.. No, SHIELD agent now.. No, Avenger now.._

_Natasha.. Mission, and shooting, and a helicopter.._

_And.._

His eyes shot open as the situation finally dawned on him, and he was staring up at nothing but darkness. By feeling on it's own though, he knew that millimetre infront of his face was rubble threatening to collapse and take him.

He was lucky..

_Damn lucky.._

This must be the only crevice in the place, and his lucky ass was the one in it.

"You just have to last a little longer. We're coming for you, ok?" The voice was still panicked, but he could finally place it as one of his team mates coming over his comms.

"S-Steve..?" He called back, his voice cracking a little as he groaned. Something was wrong, he shouldn't feel so much pain just by talking. Internal bleeding..

"Clint! Oh thank fuck.." Came the relieved reply, and despite the situation he had to smile a little. Worrying Captain America was no easy task.. He was usually too happy-go-lucky to get worried.

"Language.." He croaked back, and he could hear the slight laugh from the star spangled man.

"I'll let that one slide. Hang on, Natasha only left." He finally said, though it was cracking. His aids were damaged. He could just pick up words through the crackles of them. "Natasha! I finally got him!"

Got him..? The way it was said made it sound like they weren't expecting to. There was some commotion over the comms, and Clint's eyes had slipped closed again. He didn't have the energy to keep them open.

"..swer me, please.." He heard after a while, and he realised he dozed of a little. It was Natasha this time, her voice filled with worry and, well, something he couldn't quite place.

"Guess I didn't.. Make it in ten minutes.." He said quietly, smiling a little to himself. He didn't want her worrying, there was nothing to worry about.

A shocked laugh greeted his ears, and he couldn't help but wonder if she had given up on him.

_No, not Tash._

_She never would._

"By about four hours, bird brain.." Damn.. That's a long time..

"Well, was a little occupied.. Being crushed and all.." He wanted to sleep again, his head was rolling to the side and he had to keep snapping it back to attention.

"Condition?" He snapped his eyes open when she asked, her mission voice on now. That always snapped him back to professional mode and both of them knew it.

So, he tested out all the main things, and gave the usual completely descriptive position he was in, starting from worst to best.

"Right leg crushed. Some chest pain, either rib or lung or both. My head is way too foggy, and talking hurts so there's some internal damage, left shoulder is definitely dislocated. On my back though, so that's a good thing. All in all, not in a good position, ma'am." It always amazed him how when they got into mission mode things just melted away, the pain was on a back burner, he couldn't care about it. He had another mission to complete and that was getting out of here alive and making sure he never had to hear that worry in her voice again.

"We're clearing rubble now.. Steve and Tony grabbed the Quinjet and were here in no time. SHIELD newbies too, even Maria came to help." Her voice was soft again, though he had to keep his mind straight.

"It's not looking good, is it..?" He whispered to her, letting his eyes close when he didn't get an immediate answer.

"I don't know how bad your injuries are, Clint.." She whispered back, and he nodded even though he knew she couldn't see him.

"Leg is the worst.." He eventually replied, it wasn't just broken, those bones were definitely crushed. "Tasha, this crevice is so small that if they clear something the wrong way.."

"I won't let them do that." She said sternly, cutting him off mid sentence. "I'm getting you out of there. I owe you at least that much, right? Then I'll kill you for putting me through this."

He laughed a little, though it quickly turned into a coughing fit as pain ripped through him. He couldn't move any part of him to help ease the discomfort though. Moving could make things worse.

The coughing didn't help. Each splutter would have him inhaling some dust, inhaling some dust made him cough more. It was a viscous circle.

She was talking frantically to him, though his mind had gone muddled again so he couldn't hear her properly.

Hyperventilating. That was what was happening.

He just couldn't get a breath into him, because one thought crossed his mind during his time coughing and hurting.

"I'm not getting out.." He wheezed out his thought, his uninjured arm going to clutch his chest as it constricted, his eyes looking around frantically for a way out. "Tash, I'm not getting out!"

"Breathe Clint." She said quickly, though that's what he was trying to do! "We're getting you out! I promise, I swear to you with every fibre of my being I will get you out."

"I-in a casket.." He whispered back, shaking his head at the thought.

He didn't want to die down here! He had to go out in a blaze of glory! Not in some rubble after an explosion! That's not how Hawkeye is supposed to die!

"Clinton Barton you listen to me now!" But it was no use. He was gone, he was panicking too much to even listen to her as she went on at him.

He put his head down against the rubble beneath it, freely crying at the situation infront of him.

"Little Hawk!" That caused him to pause his panic completely, his hand still clutching the fabric of his chest.

_Little Hawk.._

She had called him that so many times, at first it was to tease him, after learning it was a nickname he held dear to his heart. But after learning the reason he had it, after learning where it came from, she started using it as the term of endearment it was meant for.

* * *

_"You know not to go near him, Clint.." She whispered softly to the crying child, and he just clung to the front of her shirt and curled into her a little more._

_His eye hurt, and he wanted it to stop, he didn't know why it wouldn't stop. The belt hits would stop hurting after a few minutes, but this wasn't! He didn't like fists anymore.._

_"But he was.. He was.." The little boy tried get some breath to finish, but his little sobs were making it too difficult to._

_"I know sweetie." She shushed, rocking him a little like she would when he couldn't sleep. "But it's a grown up thing, Clint. You can't stop him. You can't pour grown up stuff down the sink."_

_"I don't like when he drinks it, mommy.." He eventually stuttered out, hit little tears still falling. "I wanted to stop him drinking it.."_

_"It was brave of you, love." She calmly said, and he tilted his head up to see her smiling down at him. He was never in trouble with mommy. Only with daddy. He didn't know why._

_She pulled him away from her chest so he could look at her properly, and to this day he always remembered her smile being the most beautiful he had ever seen._

_Carefully, so as to not hurt the bruise that was forming on the child's eye, she wiped his little tears with her thumbs. "You're my brave hero, so don't be crying. Little Hawk doesn't cry, right..?"_

* * *

"I'll get you out, you just have to breathe for me." Her calm voice drew him out of the memory, and he nodded. "You there Clint..?"

"Yeah.." He replied a little weakly, unable to stop some shaking that had taken over his body. If he was going into shock ontop of everything else, he was going to flip..

"Good.. Just stay with me, ok? Tony finally found your heat signature. You're under alot of rubble Hawk." She sounded like she was smiling, she was trying to be ok, but he doubted she was.

"I'm sorry Tash.." He whispered to her, eyes falling closed once again as he tried will the shaking to stop.

"You have nothing to be sorry for.." She whispered back, he could hear some talking near her. Tony and Steve were no doubt planning.

"I shouldn't have got you to blow it up.. I should have just gotten taken.. You would've gotten me out in no time, but I wasn't thinking.. I didn't want to be taken by them again, didn't want to go through it, I wouldn't have lasted, I.."

"Clint. Breathe." Her commanding words cut him off, and he realised that the panic was rising again.

Who could blame him? He was helpless here. He was just waiting for either life or death to take him. He didn't know which would happen or when. At least he had some control over hostage situations, most times he got out alone, others he knew he wouldn't die or be killed.

This time though, he had so much unfinished business, so much shit left hanging in the air, and possibly no time to clear it. He couldn't leave so much unfinished!

"I gotta talk to Laura.." He suddenly said, and he knew he caught her off guard by the hitch in her breath.

"Don't know if that's the best idea." Tony's voice came through his ears, Clint didn't even realise the others were listening. But made sense, all their comms were always linked.

"Tony please.." He pleaded quietly, if he had the Iron Man suit then he could patch a call through easier than on the comms. "I gotta tell her some things, where the kids things are, just incase.."

"Tony.." Natasha's quiet whisper cut him off, and he couldn't hear the exchange beyond that. But he soon heard Tony sigh and agree, then there was the sound of dialling.

"Stark, whenever you call it's to borrow my kids for some elaborate plan." Laura's laughing voice come over the comms, and he couldn't help but smile a little. That's the exact reason why uncle Tony's visiting was very limited. After the weekend Cooper went home limping from trying out a child sized Iron Man suit, uncle Tony had to be watched pretty closely around them.

"Just me, Laura.." He said softly, trying to keep his voice even. He didn't need to worry her, though he knew he didn't sound right.

"Clint? Sorry, ID said Tony." She sighed, and he had a feeling she was still mad at him for cancelling the kids visit for what would be the third time in a row. Missions just took him away too much lately to have a chance. "What's up?"

"You got a pen and paper..?" He asked quietly, his head lulling to the side again so he had to snap it back to normal. He knew she would, unless she changed the house entirely. "There's a safety d.. A deposit place in New York. Boxes number 547, 548, and 549.. Cooper's, Lila's, and Nate's.. Passwords are their birth weight, birth time, birth date, in that order.."

"Ok.." She said with a confused tone, he knew it was a weird call, but he needed to tell her about this.

He was always worried that one day he'd never make it back from a mission, so he had those boxes filled with little bits of his. A letter for each, some arrows, some old photos, some items that meant alot to him as a kid, and some slips detailing bank accounts for each child. When he got a fair amount of money a while back, it was automatically split between the three of them.

"..cause you're kind of scaring me here.." She soon said, and he realised that he blacked out again while she was talking.

"Are they around..?" He asked quietly, his voice mumbling now as darkness threatened him again.

"They're all in bed. It's late." She simply replied, and he nodded, remembering that he had no idea what time it actually was.

"Sorry, that's right.." He sighed, thinking a little so he could choose his next words carefully. "I don't blame you for leaving me, Laura.. I need you to know that."

"You been drinking?" She asked suddenly, and his heart sank a little. Is that what everyone always thinks? But her tone made it seem like it was what she was hoping for rather than thinking of.

Then again, his words were slurred, and it was the most random phone call he's given, so he'd humour her.

"Yeah.. Sorry." He replied, and he could just feel Natasha wanting to cut in and tell her off. He was dying, and he was still trying to protect everyone from hurt. "I just need you to know these little things.. I was a mess, I wasn't there for you or the kids.. I wasn't a husband, and I'm so grateful you stuck around as long as you did.. I'm glad I had you in my life Laura.."

_That's called being a hero.. Making sure everyone's ok before you are.._

"Go to sleep, Barton." She sighed after a long pause, and he smiled a little sadly. He may just do that. "I'll drop the kids up on Saturday, ok? Sweet dreams."

He didn't get a chance to reply, she hung up the phone on him.

"Clint..?" It was a few minutes of silence before his partner broke it, and he sighed a little bit.

"I'm fine.." He replied, and he found that he actually was. He thought that would be a difficult call, thought he'd break down and just lose it. But he was fine, and it finally made him realise he was over Laura.

He was over the divorce, they were pretty much strangers to eachother now. He didn't need her.

But damn, he needed Natasha..

"Guys still on comms..?" He asked quietly, not wanting them to be. If he was going to leave, he wanted his last few moments spent talking with Natasha and Natasha alone.

"Just you and me, big guy." She soon replied, she must have kicked them out of the frequency.

"Didn't get shot.." He said through a slight grin, though he knew this was much worse.

"You didn't." She laughed her reply, making him smile a little more. He always found a sense of pride in making her laugh. "We're all very proud of you for that."

"Better be.." He chuckled, whimpering cut it short though when the pain rippled through his chest again.

"Easy Hawk.." She said softly, soothingly, he was in bad shape if that voice was coming out. "You just stay with me, ok? They nearly have you."

"I love you.." He said out of no where, but they had to be said. This was next on his unfinished business.

Those words had to be said to her before anything else happened. She had to know how he felt, how empty his life was after she left him. She had to know that, yeah, he loved Laura, so so much, but it wasn't like this confession was now just some rebound love.

Natasha was never quiet about that. Never quiet about how only a few months after they broke up, he was already with Laura. He didn't know if it was jealously, he didn't think it was. Natasha wasn't the sort to get jealous, but he always felt bad about upsetting her.

"Clint, you're delusional.." She whispered to him. He could just about hear a tint of hope though, she didn't want it to be near death talk.

He shook his head. This was the most clear it had been in months. This was the best shape his thoughts had been in for the longest time. He could finally get everything in check and it only took a cave in to make it happen.

"No.. No, it's not that.." He replied quietly, trying to make sure the words would come out of his mouth right. He was getting weaker, the spots were forming on his vision, threatening to take him to the dark place again. "I shouldn't have let you walk out that day. Marriage doesn't matter, it really doesn't, it never did. I don't know why I didn't just stop you and let you know it was fine. I should've just kept you, kept things the way they were, because they were perfect that way.."

"Clint.." She cut him off, but he didn't want to stop, and that's what he knew she was going to say.

"I don't regret what I had with Laura.." He went on, ignoring that she was about continue on. "I loved her, I really did.. I love our kids, I loved our life.. But we can't have lives like that, can we? Assassins, agents, Avengers.. We can't have normal relationships.."

"I think you proved that alright.." She whispered, or maybe it was actually normal talking, he couldn't tell anymore, consciousness was coming and going in quick little bursts. "But you gave it your best shot.. "

"I never miss with my best shot.. Come on, give the world greatest marksman some credit.. " He said through a slight chuckle, hearing her laugh a little on the other end aswell. "It was my worst shot, a complete cluster fuck.. I wanted to be a normal husband and father but I didn't want to stop going on missions.."

"You could have."

"No, I tried.." He said with a shake of his head. "I couldn't leave you guys alone.. I loved you all too much to stay away.."

There was silence for a while then, and he was afraid that the comms had broken or that his hearing had gone completely.

Something hit his face, some fine sediment, rocks were shifting. That must be where she went, because she sounded like she had a smile on her when she finally came back to him.

"You there, little Hawk..?"

"Nah, slipped out for some Starbucks.." He replied weakly. He didn't want to be awake anymore.

"Clint, you stay awake until we get medics to you, ok?" She said sharply, but her commands weren't really working anymore.

"Don't make me come kill you. Kind of love you too much to."

That got his eyes open and his attention firing.

_ Did she really just..?_

"You.." Words escaped him, because she just said she loved him.

Not the first time he's heard it, but it's the first time since they broke up that she said it. Even when he'd say it in a joking way, or in a best friend way, she would NEVER say it back to him.

"I love you too, you idiot." She was laughing a little, probably at his reaction more than anything. "Sure, I was happy for you with Laura, I tried force myself to get over it all because I wanted to get over you. But I don't think I ever stopped loving you."

"But then.." She really had to stop cutting him off, but this time it was because she knew exactly what was coming and he was fine with that.

"Because, in our line of work, we can't love." She started, and he hummed a little to tell her to go on. This was keeping him awake, story time definitely would. "I wanted to marry you Clint. Wanted to wake up every morning to some pancakes and coffee with you. I wanted to be in your arms each night, wanted to be there through the good times, and help through the bad. But we can't do that sort of stuff. And you wanted it."

"I could've lived without it.. Could've just kept it as was.." He whispered back. That was always what he wanted, the reason for her walking out that day. But this isn't what he thought it would be.

"I didn't want to hurt you Clint." She sighed, but carried on before he could ask how she would. "I'm the Black Widow. I have a certain kind of skill set, Hawk. Even when we were dating, I'd see how jealous you'd get when I simply flirted with a target. I was afraid that I'd hurt you too much one mission and you'd just leave. I was afraid that I'd look over a bar while leaving with a guy and see too much hurt in your eyes, I was afraid.."

"Of being compromised.." He finished the sentence for her, and her sigh told him he was correct. "You know, we've been compromised since the very start. The second that I let you live, then you hit my shoulder instead of my skull, we were compromised."

"That's different.."

"Not really.." He sighed, hissing when he shrugged but forgot about the dislocated shoulder. "Coulson always said we'd be the death of eachother.. He knew, all the way back then, that we had eachothers number.."

"Smart man.." He could hear the smile in her voice. It comforted him. He was under the impression that this would be an awkward talk, but he was relaxed now knowing they'd be fine. Knowing they might have something if he gets out.

_When you get out, you idiot.._

"None of it would matter.." He mumbled to her, eyes closing, but not by choice. He was losing the battle now that everything was done. Now that his children were taken care of, now that Natasha knew how he felt, he was losing the battle. She was talking to him, her voice frantic again, but he couldn't make out words so he just went on as if she stayed silent. "Nat, even if you went off with a guy on a mission.. Even if you hooked up then killed or captured him.. None of it would matter. Because I'd still be the one to hold you each night, and the one to kiss you each morning.. And that's all I want.."

There were more words, but he was done for. He couldn't fight back the darkness anymore.

"You're all I want.." His final words before he let the darkness consume him. It was fine. He was fine.

He was, for the first time in years, fully at peace.

* * *

There was a light in his eyes. And he really wanted it to stop! It was too bright, it stung.

It would go from one eye to another, and he could just make out a black shape behind it. There was a familiar thump in his chest, an unnatural thump, an adrenaline shot.

"Come on pal.." The words hit him clearly, not through the comms, but the person was actually there. "Come on back to us, Romeo. We gotta get you out of here."

The light left his eyes long enough for him to pull them open a crack. He was still lying on the hard unyielding rubble of the once building, there was still a large piece trapping his leg. But his upper body was free. He could see the stars up in the night sky, could feel the cold winter wind glide across his face.

It took him a moment to focus his eyes, but when he did there was so much to look at. He only recognised three of the eight or nine frantic looking people.

Tony was in the middle, right in his view. He was the one with that damn light. He was still in his armour, just his faceplate up so Clint could see him.

Steve was to the right of him, not in the spangled outfit though which upset Barton to a certain degree. How amazing would it be for the first sight you see to be Captain America himself!? Though boring normal Steve would do perfectly at this moment in time.

To the left of Stark was the one face he couldn't tear his eyes away from.

Carefully, he reached up his good arm towards her, using his thumb to wipe away a few stray tears that slipped from her eyes.

"Natasha Romanoff crying..?" He croaked out, his hand falling from lack of energy. She caught it though, and held onto it tightly in hers with a slight smile. "I must be dead.."

"Not yet, but you will be if you don't shut it." She laughed, wiping her own tears with the back of her free hand. "You idiot, worrying all of us so much."

"Ok love birds, save it for the bedroom." Tony simply said, snapping his fingers to draw Clint's attention back to him. It worked, he needed things like that to be done to keep his attention going right now. "You're in bad shape, Barton. But we need you awake to move this so we don't do more damage. If you feel something's wrong, just say, ok?"

It took Clint a moment, but the words eventually registered in his mind and he gave a slight nod.

"Good man." Steve said with a smile, and he positioned himself at the large piece to shift it. On his own. Now THAT'S Captain America right there!

He looked to Natasha when her hand went on his chest, applying just the slightest bit of pressure. Then to Tony who was doing the same with his good leg. They were keeping him pinned down, damn it he only got free!

A blinding pain shot through him when Steve started lifting, and it caused a scream to rip through his chest and his eyes to screw themselves shut. Now he knew why they were holding him down! His body involuntarily tried move away from the pain.

"Easy Clint.." Natasha whispered in his ear, her hand still on his chest. Steve had stopped lifting. "Deep breaths, ok?"

He nodded slightly, and the lifting began again. He couldn't hold back the whimpers as his crushed leg was freed. It hurt more than being crushed.

"Life is old there, older than the trees. Younger than the mountains..~" Someone was singing his song, and it stopped a scream halfway out. A male voice, but Steve was busy.. So that left Tony.

He opened his eyes a fraction for the first time in five minutes to see the billionaire watching him, he had never seen the guy so worried, so upset. Yet, he was singing.

"Take me home..~" He continued, and Clint realised that he was trying to get him to join.

"Country roads..~" He sang weakly, and he could see a slight grin spread across Stark's face. He kept eye contact with him, something to stay rooted to as his mind and body went through the horrible task of being cleared of rubble crushing him. A hand was running through his hair, softly, Natasha.. She always knew that calmed him. "Take me home..~"

His team was trying to keep him calm, swatting away any impatient newbie who would try clear things, giving people the death look when they suggested just pulling him out to get it over with sooner. They were protecting him from any little danger, not only saving him.

He wasn't just lucky to have Natasha. He was lucky to have all of them.

"To the place.. I belong..~" It was off his leg, it was finally off his leg! So he allowed his eyes to fall closed. But he kept singing away. "West Virginia.. Mountain momma..~"

He'd be lost without his team.. Without his friends. Why the hell didn't he let them help sooner?

"Maria! We got him!" Steve yelled, and suddenly all the hands left him. He could hear Maria, and Natasha. But no one else.

"Barton, it's Hill." She said softly, and he swore he felt something prick his skin while she spoke. "We're going to put you back to sleep so we can strap you up and get you home. It's going to be alright."

It would be alright. He was going to live. He was going to have a nice little stay in hospital, then a doting stay with Stark and Pepper in the tower. Then he could go be with Natasha..

He felt soft lips on his, and without even having his eyes open, he knew exactly who it was. "You did so well, so well.. I'll see you in a few hours. Sleep well, little Hawk.."

He welcomed blackness this time, because it meant safety, it meant he was going home..

_Take me home.. Country Roads.._


	9. Chapter 9

This then one more lads!

Unless I decide to do a Natasha one..

I don't know, I like the idea of having a nice even 10! Might do a Natasha and the others in the hospital as a one shot some day, let me know, I dunno!

Reviewers!

Fury-Natalia; Always the plan! Glad you liked it :)

BlackHawk's Child; Damn.. Obviously wasn't mean enough in the last chapter if you gave a nice review.. Have to kill him now or something.. I joke, I joke! I'm glad you liked it :)

Niom Lamboise; Can now spell your pen name without looking, that's a personal victory for me! I think I went into the movie hating her, quite simply because she just wasn't a good comic character so I instantly thought she'd be a bad movie character, I dunno! I do kind of like movie Laura :P Glad you liked it!

Onto the next!

Thanks for sticking with me this long! Y'all rock!

Disclaimer; Yep, still don't own anything of Marvel's.

* * *

It's strange, how used one person could get to waking up in a hospital bed.

On the verge of death, he swore that he was a goner. Swore to whatever entity he didn't believe it, ok swore to Thor cause he kind of has to believe in him, that he was done and dusted on this earth and was ready for Valhalla or whatever he always goes on about.

But the darkness was beginning to lift. His senses were beginning to come back to him. He could smell the disinfectant before anything else, which is how he knew full well he was stuck in yet another hospital room.

Years of SHIELD work always meant that every third or fourth mission would end up in a place like this. Most humans would have adrenaline shooting through them right now, their mind panicking as it realised that it was somewhere that meant something bad had happened to them, something bad enough to warrant a hospital room stay without their knowledge.

Not Clint Barton though.

Smelling the chest hitting scent of disinfectant meant safety, meant that the worst of things were over. It meant he wasn't in the ground six feet under, it meant he was somewhere safe, somewhere warm, somewhere he'd be looked after and cared for.

Naturally, taste came with the sense of smell, and he could just taste the horrible dry mouthed taste that comes with an oxygen feed. The kind that makes you crave buckets and buckets of water until you just can't taste anything anymore.

Vanilla and gun powder. That was the one other strong scent attacking him right now.

_Vanilla and gun powder.._

He had smelled that so many more times than he had disinfectant, and it brought to him a great deal more peace than the disinfectant did.

He didn't get to lose himself in the smells too long. Because the next sense to come back was his hearing. It was crisp, loud, seriously so. He didn't know why, his aids were always set down low. But he remembered something, a crackling sound, malfunctioning, panic when he thought that they'd break before he got to see their faces, break before he got to get out, broke and left him alone in that dark humid place all alone.

"...So we were running down these stairs, he was behind me firing some arrows back, and I was too busy calling in for some rescue to see that Coulson was stopped there.." He knew that voice.. He really did. It was the owner of the scent. It was laughing, the owner enjoying themselves with whatever story they were telling.

"How come you two never have an extraction plan in place?" A chuckling voice asked, masculine, deep.. Patriotic, that was the word swimming around Clint's mind, but he couldn't place it either.

"Because we're not newbies who need hand holding." The female voice laughed her answer back, and he could hear the snickers of some others. "Ok, maybe he is considering he always seems to end up here."

Music.. There was music playing soon enough. Though it seemed out of place, it wasn't like hospital radio music. It was loud, there was background noise. Some kind of live video?

'...Romeo save me, they're trying to tell me how to feel, this love is difficult, but it's real..~'

He knew those lyrics..

"I don't know man!" A laughing voice said, another guy, not as deep as the first. "He has a pretty good voice!"

"Pepper said the same!" Third guy..

"He has a guitar in his room." Girl, laughing, the word kid swam around his head.. Archer.. "He is pretty damn good!"

He may have black out and missed some conversation.. They were talking about an extraction plan a moment ago..

Touch.

That was the next sense.

And holy crap he wished it wasn't.

Because the pain that came flooding through his body was like being hit by a jumbo jet.

It started with a thump in his head, then to a sharp pain his shoulder, and he could feel it was set in a sling and held close to his chest. His ribs next, man that was a bitch! They were on fire man! His leg though..

He knew it was in a cast of some sort, because it was completely immobile even though he could feel it.

_Crushed.._

That word swam around his mind over and over again.

Damn, it was going to be a bitch to heal..

The annoying itch on his face told him there was an oxygen mask in place, and good lord he wanted to rip it off already. Others were just little pinches and tugs around different parts of his body, stitches and bruises he guessed.

One other feeling was present, and it wasn't a painful one. It was a pretty damn nice one actually. There was someone holding his hand. And he was squeezing it pretty damn hard without even realising it.

The room had fallen silent, bar some soft music playing from a speaker somewhere. So he knew it wasn't just his hearing giving out on him, it was everyone falling silent.

It was only when the laughing and happy voices quietened down that he heard the beep of the heart monitor, and it was going mental.

"Clint? You gonna wake up for me?" The voice was soft, and that's how he finally placed it.

_Natasha.._

Sight. That was the only one eluding the archer right now. But he wanted to see her face, wanted to know she was ok. He needed to know she was here and it wasn't just his imagination messing with him or some drug induced dream.

"Come on, Hawk." She was whispering now, he could feel her breath on his face so she was close. A hand was running through his hair aswell, and he could hear the heart monitor begin to calm down. "Enough beauty sleep for now. Come back to us for a while."

He tried will his eyes open, tried his best to. It took a few moments but, soon enough, they pulled together for a fraction before opening themselves up.

Sight.

He had it back.

Though for a moment, all he could see was white. The window in the room he was currently in let the blinding winter sun shine in. And his eyes really didn't appreciate it after, he assumed, so long closed. She wouldn't tease him about beauty sleep if it was a short time.

No one spoke, no one pushed him, the only sound in the room was a little bit of Bon Jovi playing somewhere and the heart monitor beeping away to show he was, in fact, alive.

He waited patiently, and his eyes didn't let him down. They never did.

He was sitting up at a slight angle in the bed, no doubt so his left shoulder could rest in a comfortable position. A thin blanket was covering him from the waist down, but he tell from the outline of it that there was, infact, a pretty thick cast around his leg. He was just staring at it for the longest time, just to shake the cobwebs from his mind.

"I owe you twenty bucks, Steve." He looked up at the voice, following it's direction until he locked eyes with a smiling Tony Stark, Pepper sitting comfortably on his lap. They were sitting by the door of the room. "It was less than a month."

It was a large room, he realised. And Tony was in a fairly comfy looking arm chair. Definitely not a normal hospital room. Stark's private hospital, in the tower. Definitely.

"Well I always have faith in my team-mates." Following the new voice, he saw Steve sitting on the opposite side of the room, by the open window that was sending the harsh light in. He gave Clint a wink, and he hoped he managed to smile a little at the captain.

Sam was in the chair by his side, the music coming from beside him, so he guessed he was the one who set it up for the place.

"Hey, I think I was closest with 20 days!" He'd know that voice without even looking, though he did anyway just so he could get his mind straight and know where everyone was.

Sure enough, Kate was by the foot of the bed on Tony's side of the room, sitting back in a chair with her feet resting up and crossed on the bed. He must look like crap, because he never saw that sorry look on her face before.

"Dunno, it was only 15. Steve did say 11." Final voice, the one that definitely did give him a smile. He looked to his side to see Natasha watching him closely, a warm smile on her face. Her thumb was stroking the back of his hand, but he had to pull it away.

He could hear just fine, which meant he could talk to them alright.

But his throat was sore, and talking would require way too much effort. He figured she wouldn't let him take the mask off either, not if his suspicions about a collapsed lung were true.

'Tell them Steve wins.' He signed to her, a little smile on his face. His signs were slow, sloppy. Whatever drugs were being pumped through the IV were really hitting him. His other hand signed along too,the one with the injured shoulder, so that meant it wasn't too badly damaged.

"There you have it! Patient has last say! Sorry, kid." Tony cheered, and Clint looked to him in slight shock.

_He didn't know how to sign.._

Natasha knew to sign, she always had to interpret for him when he lost his hearing for whatever reason.

Tony just gave the archer a grin and took his arm from around Pepper, signing to him perfectly. 'Steve's idea.'

He raised an eyebrow and turned his head to look at the captain, who just shrugged with a little smile. They really had to all sit next to eachother.. This constant looking around was hurting his head..

"I figured it was a little mean to have you left out of things just because your hearing messed up." He shrugged, and if he wasn't so doped up and could process that, Clint probably would have cried. "So, we all took a class. Natasha's class, so it was definitely drilled into us."

It doesn't seem like a major gesture. To most people, it was probably just something silly. But to him, it was perfect. It meant that the days he forgets his aids on the way to the tower wouldn't have to be a struggle anymore. It meant that, if they malfunctioned, he wouldn't have to sit there like a fish out of water at dinner trying to read everyone's lips at the same time.

This little gesture was one of the nicest things anyone had ever done for him. The only thing he could do to show his appreciation for it was to sign a simple 'Thank you.'

They spoke a little more about things while he was trying to wake up, and they didn't push him or anything. He would look to one of them every now and then and nod or shake his head to questions like do you need pain relief or food or stuff like that.

A half hour later, and he was finally feeling a little more alive, a little more alert.

"You'll hop his bones every two minutes and he won't heal properly, Widow.."

"Oh, like you wouldn't, rich boy? I know you secretly love him more than I do!"

"Water..?" He croaked out to Natasha, stopping her and Tony in a little argument over who's room he'd be staying in when he was out, it was a joke argument of course. He just liked winding her up about the whole couply love thing. He didn't mean for it to sound so demanding or rude, but it took him easily five minutes to get the word from his mind to his mouth so it was the best he could do!

She turned back to him and nodded with a surprised smile, grabbing the jug of water from the bedside table and pouring him a cup. Guess none of them were expecting him to talk for a while. He struggled to pull the oxygen mask off, but Steve was by his side in an instant to help him with it.

"No shame in asking for help, Clint.." He said with a little smile, holding the mask in one hand while moving the straw in the cup Natasha was holding to the archers lips.

"Says the guy who wouldn't even let me bring him dinner while he was in a hospital bed." Sam commented dryly, and he could hear some of them laugh a little. He was just focusing on taking little sips of the water though.

"Well, he's a super soldier." Kate said with an amused smile when Clint had enough water, Steve now repositioning his oxygen mask for him. "Barton's just a baby. He needs the minding."

"Funny.." Clint said with a slight shake of his head, gripping Natasha's hand a little harder when the movement sent a sharp pain, well, everywhere. She squeezed it right back, just her way of letting him know it was ok.

"I'm not too sure.." Pepper said from her position by the door, and he was so tired now that he had to roll his head along the pillow to look at her. "Surviving so long under that much rubble? Something tells me he's stronger than the lot of you."

He gave a little smile at her words, not believing them, but grateful for them none the less.

"Nah, he's the brains of the operation." Natasha said with an amused smile, and he nodded in agreement. His eyes were falling closed again.

"Don't know about that, sweetheart." Tony said with a laugh, of course he was right. Clint was the mixture of the group. Bit of everyone all in one. Tony was the brains. "And I think I'm pretty strong for lasting in this chair for 15 days!"

His eyes opened at that, and he looked to the billionaire with a confused face.

_15 days.._

But he was out of it for 15 days..

He looked to Natasha who just shrugged with a sad smile.

She knew he hated when people stayed by his side in hospital. Their time could be taken up so much better. So many more important things could be done rather than stare at his unconscious body.

"Told them plenty of times to go." She said softly, running a hand through his hair again to keep him calm.

"She's not lying." Kate added in, he could feel her shift her feet off the bed. He was too focused on Natasha's eyes right now though.

"Did kick us out for, what, three hours?" Sam's voice hit his ears this time, so he rolled his head to look at the pair on that side of the room.

Rogers nodded a little bit, his arms folded across his chest. "To shower and eat. Though she didn't budge so it was pretty hypocritical!"

"Either did Kate." Natasha defended with a smile when Clint looked to her, she so knew she was in trouble with him for staying so long.

"Don't rat me out! I thought we had an alliance!" Kate said with a pout, she was standing and stretching herself out.

He glanced around at them all once more and whimpered a little, bringing his good hand up from Natasha's grip to run his forehead gently. His head was really starting to hurt.

"Why..?" He asked weakly, his hand falling back onto the bed. His eyes wouldn't open back up this time. The pull of sleep was too much.

"It's what we do." Tony said softly.

"You'd do the same.." Kate this time, and he couldn't argue with that!

"Because we're a team." Steve came next, and he nodded a little.

"Can't leave someone behind." Sam said casually.

"Even if it is in the safety of a hospital." Pepper added to Sam's comment.

But it was Natasha's reason that made the most sense. It was her words that made everything ok in his mind.

"Because we all, kind of, love you Clint."

He smiled just the slightest at that, they were all pretty damn good reasons and he couldn't find an argument for any of them.

Pietro's death hit him hard. He never thought he'd recover from it, never thought he'd get over seeing a kid, with a whole life infront of him, take such a hit for him when they barely knew eachother. He never thought in a million years that the nightmares of that moment would leave him.

While reeling from that, the divorce was just a kick in the nuts. He tried so hard to be a husband, be a father, but it's difficult to when you're also trying to save the world day in and day out. That change was just too much for him to take, too much for him to handle alone.

To compensate, he turned to drink. He turned into his father. He went to the bottle each night to chase away the demons and to make the pain go away. He chose to go numb rather than face things head on.

Now, he realised what he should have done.

The people in the room, the people in his life that mattered to him more than anything. He should have turned to them for help rather than hide everything from them. Should've opened up instead of hiding away alone. He had a team that learned a whole new skill just so he wouldn't feel left out, who dropped everything to come get him out of some rubble, who waited 15 days by his bedside until he woke.

He was one lucky son of a bitch to have people that kind in his life.

* * *

"He's fine Laura, finally woke up." Natasha was on the beside him, he knew that much. He didn't know why, or for how long, but he could feel her there. "Groggy, yeah. More out of it than I've ever seen him. But docs think that with enough time and recovery he'll be the same old idiot in no time."

_Mean.._

They let him sleep. He didn't know for how long, but he was coming back to the waking world now and he felt his head was a million times clearer.

There weren't many other sounds in the room, just the beep of the monitor that he was quickly getting tired of and the sound of someone turning the pages of a magazine.

He peeked his eyes open just a bit, noticing how dark the room actually was. Just the little corner lamp held the light in the room. While he was asleep, the mask was taken from him. Thank god for that! It was replaced with a nose feed instead. Still annoying, but it made speaking alot easier.

Kate was still in her chair at the foot of the bed, legs back on the bed where they had been previously. Moving his head a little caught Natasha's attention, so she glanced at him with a smile.

She was sitting up against the headboard of the bed, one hand holding the phone to her ear and the other gently holding his hand.

"He just woke up again actually. Drug eyes on him would have you laughing your head off."

He smiled a little at that, knowing that for the next while he was going to be subject to alot of teasing!

He found it crazy how Natasha and Laura remained good friends after the divorce. It hit him so hard that he couldn't even look at the woman he once called his wife for the longest time, but Natasha always kept in contact with her.

Maybe she knew, like she always knows, that in the future Clint would want to get in contact with Laura again, try stay friends. Because it was Natasha's idea about a month ago to call Laura and sort out the hard feelings there.

Black Widow was too smart for him to handle..

Kate glanced at them when she heard that he was awake, sending him a little smile and signing to him quickly. 'Looking like shit, old man.'

He laughed a little and nodded, replying quietly to her. "Feeling like shit, kitty Kate.."

"Yeah, no, you're right. I don't think he'd be able to talk to them right now." Natasha sighed softly, sending Clint a sad smile. "I know they want to, but just tell them to give him a few days then he can."

_The kids.._

Damn, they must've gotten some fright if they were told where he was..

"You too Laura, take care." She hung up the phone with that sentence, leaning down then to give Clint's forehead a soft kiss. "She sends her love."

"Kids ok?" He asked quietly, worried now that they were told and they thought he was dead. He wouldn't be able for that.

"Relax Hawk." Natasha said with a little smile, stroking his cheek gently. It felt weird though, like he couldn't really feel her hand on his skin at all, he realised that it was actually a beard that had grown. 15 days, and his usually grows quick. "We just told them that you were on a mission and wouldn't be home for a while. Cooper was fine with it, and you know the other two, too young to understand."

"Auntie Kate and Uncle Tony brought them up some presents though while you were in surgery! So they were fine!" Kate grinned, and Clint looked to her with a scared face. "What?"

"Gifts from you two usually means weapons.." He said quietly. If that happened, he was going to be killed by Laura next time he saw her.

"Relax." Natasha laughed, ruffling his hair a little. "I sent them up to tell Laura what happened. I picked the toys out aswell."

"Thank god.." He sighed in relief, sinking into the pillows a little.

"I see nothing wrong with bringing Nate a bow.." Kate said with a pout, and he had to laugh.

Yeah, Laura was not happy with the nearly 2 year old being sent home with a bow and arrow set.. Not toy plastic kiddy ones either.. Proper small versions of his trick arrows..

He moved his head a little so it rest gently against Natasha's arm, though she couldn't wrap it around him with his opposite shoulder in such pain, he just wanted some sort of contact.

"Oh!" He heard Kate exclaim, and that giddyness was never a good sign. He had his eyes closed the past few minutes but he just knew she was jumping up and down like she always does. "I got the whiskey!"

He chuckled a little, and he could just feel the confused vibes coming from his partner beside him.

"Don't think I need that stuff anymore.." He whispered with a little smile, feeling a soft kiss being placed ontop of his head then. He had all the help he needed now, he realised he had it all along but just never noticed. He didn't need alcohol anymore, didn't want alcohol anymore.

"But, if aunty Nat is willing to tell the Budapest story.." He started with a yawn, feeling his hand being taken in the soft one of his partner. That meant she was fine with it. He nuzzled her a little bit, trying to burn all of this into his memory, the sound of the heart monitor, soft beep of the machine, the soft country music still playing from the speaker.

He made sure to remember the softly spoken voices of the two main women in his life, tried remember how happy he felt. Made sure beyond everything that he remembered how relaxed he felt with the smell of vanilla and gun powder coming from beside him.

Kate took him from the dark all those months ago, just after the divorce, gave him something to do, something to keep his mind off everything. She gave him someone to teach archery to, someone to tell stories to. She let him be a mentor for the first time in his life on his own terms. She helped him relax, settle into life without his wife and kids. She gave him normality.

Natasha did what she always did; supported him. She gave him missions, gave him a reason for being. She made sure he was up each day with a text or a call, made sure that he had reasons to get out of the bed be it training with her or Steve or just for some coffee to catch up. She was there when he was having nightmares, stayed up with him when he couldn't face the darkness. She gave him everything he needed to recover.

He made sure to remember that he owed these two women so much. Because, in so many ways, they dropped everything in their lives to fix him back to the Hawkeye he once was.

He was drifting asleep again, a soft smile on his face as Natasha began the familiar story. "Once upon a time, a little hawk and a widow weren't so much in love with eachother.."

That was a long long time ago.. Because he couldn't remember a time he wasn't in love with Natasha Romanoff.


	10. Chapter 10

So marks the end of another one! Nice and short little chapter, just an epilogue of sorts!

Now taking ideas lads! I have some in mind (one or two being set before this little chapter, but yeah!), but always want others, especially with summer coming up! So PM me if you have any ideas about stories! I'll give you credit for it, don't worry, just wanna keep writing!

REVIEWERS;

BlackHawk's Child; Well, I'd hardly give y'all the Budapest story, now, would I..? That's another work entirely that may or may not come one day, I don't know yet! :P Glad you like it :)

Enjoy!

Disclaimer! 10 chapters in and I still don't own Marvel or any of it's characters.. Even with my mad crazy ideas.. Hmm..

* * *

She let out a little giggle when he grabbed her waist and spun her to face him, lips crashing against eachother as they fell into the hotel room. They were wasting no time, and that suited her down to the ground..

The place was dark, but she didn't want to pull away from the kiss to turn the lights on. They didn't need them, he'd do just fine without them. He always did good work in the dark.

His hands were at the back of her dress, tugging the zipper down as they sloppily made their way towards the bed. Her hands were tangled in his hair, a dark brown, long enough for a bit of pull, but short enough to still look like a guy.

Once her zipper was down, she let the dress fall to the floor and stepped out of it, just by the bed, close enough to push him gently down onto it.

He smirked up at her as she climbed ontop of him, her lips coming down to ghost over his.

"Not usually one to do this sort of stuff.." She whispered against them, trailing soft kisses along his jawline and up to his ear. "But I think, for you, I can make an exception.."

The man beneath her visibly shuddered at the tone of her voice, and she smirked a little more, her hand sneaking down to undo his belt.

Natasha Romanoff was good..

* * *

He waited in the room for most of the night, waiting for the call to let him know she was on her way. It ended up being a text, but that was just fine by him.

Small take out. Get in, arrest the guy, deliver him to Fury, go home. Simple as simple could be!

And, now a days, simple meant simple. It wasn't like a few years ago when simple would still end with him lying in a hospital bed.

Because Hawkeye was back to his old self. Better than ever before, infact!

He went to hide in the bathroom when he knew she was coming back, bow and arrow at the ready to take out this guy.

Mr. Julian Mandres. Small time drug and arms dealer. Nothing too big. But he gave a little look into radioactive substances last week so Fury wants a little talk with him. Newbies could have handled this no problem, but things were quiet right now, so Barton and Romanoff asked nicely to have the nice easy mission.

Simple tactic was being employed. One they initiated a hundred million times before.

Only worked with guys, but that was fine.

She went out in the nice revealing dress, got the guy drunk as drunk could be, took him back for a nice little romp, then had her partner shoot him with an arrow while he was too distracted to realise what was happening!

He stood from the edge of the bath tub when he heard the hotel room door close, heavy footsteps and some sounds he didn't really want to describe soon following.

He had to wait for the signal though, so he stood with his ear pressed against the bathroom door, bow and arrow resting by his side. He took this mission so un-seriously that he didn't even wear his normal mission gear, just some jeans and a t-shirt. He looked like the most ridiculously unprofessional assassin there was!

He didn't wait too long, knowing how much Natasha hated dealing with these sort of guys. So, he waited long enough to know that they were at least on the bed before he stepped out of the bathroom.

Flicking on the lights as he passed the switch, he gave a low whistle at the sight infront of him. Natasha was just climbing off the guy, her usual passive mission face back on as she went to grab a dressing gown on the back of the desk chair.

He wished she didn't cover up.. But, he'd have to wait until they were home, he supposed, for that bit of fun!

"Someone's getting lucky.." Clint said with an amused grin, the guy on the bed recovering from the bit of shock of being caught and was now sitting up. He glared at Clint, obviously pissed off at being disturbed.

"You have to take so long?" Natasha asked through a sigh, and he smirked a little at her. She really really hated doing these missions lately..

"Who the hell do you think you are, kid?" He shouted, and Barton pouted a little bit.

He looked to Natasha who was standing by his side, and she was grinning at the guys words. "Did he just..?"

"I told you, Hawk.. People just don't know you." She said with a little laugh, winking at her partner then.

"Well he will." Barton pouted, raising his bow to aim the electro-arrow at the guys heart.

The smug look soon dropped from his face, replaced by the terror that Clint loved seeing cross peoples faces.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Hawkeye, the most handsome and favourite Avenger." He started with a slight grin, Natasha cut him off though.

"Ahhha-Sixth favourite." She commented through a fake cough, giving Clint a sweet smile when he pouted at her.

"Oh!" He cheered, looking back to the man on the bed with a smirk when he remembered the most important part. "And the guy who's fiancée you just tried hook up with."

He could just feel Natasha roll her eyes at his answer, her arm slipping around his waist as if to confirm that it was true. Not that they needed to prove anything to this scum. "Just knock him out so we can go home. I'm dying for a bath."

"With pleasure." He grinned, letting the electro-arrow go flying. It hit the man's chest before he could get the scream out, and he instantly fell back onto the bed, convulsing as the volts of electricity surged through him.

Clint hummed a little in thought and held up his bow, testing the string a little. "Little off balance.."

"That's what you get for letting Nate near it." Natasha replied with a little laugh, both too used to the sound of a person being electrocuted to even react to it any other way than normally anymore.

He soon fell still though, and Clint sent a little smirk to his fiancée. "You were so getting into that.. Didn't think he was your type, Romanoff."

He laughed as she smacked him across the head, not a gentle one but it was fine, he was used to being abused!

"Just shut up and hog tie him, will you?" She commanded, mission voice meant he was in trouble!

He gave a little smile and nodded, tilting her chin his way though so he could give her a soft kiss, and she happily responded by wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Yes ma'am.."

* * *

Thanks for sticking with it till the end! Keep an eye for the next random stories, after exams at this stage!

-Tara :)


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